What Is Cerebral Palsy and What Causes It?

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a condition associated with birth injury. It is a term used to describe a number of disorders affecting brain function and body movement. It specifically affects muscle, motor, and coordination skills. The symptoms can vary depending on the type of CP – from involuntary spasms to lack of muscle tone throughout the entire body. Learning disabilities, developmental disabilities, and seizures are associated with CP.

Types of Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy can take on several forms, and each looks somewhat different. It is important to know what different types of cerebral palsy look like in order to understand the level of functional impairment a person may have.

Cerebral palsy can be classified based on the severity of two different parameters (click here for information on other classification schemes):

Limb Involvement: This cerebral palsy classification system is based on which limbs are affected by the brain injury.
Motor Disturbance: This cerebral palsy classification system is based on the nature of the movement (motor) disturbance.

Limb Involvement Classification

Diplegia: Diplegic cerebral palsy affects limbs on opposite sides of the body. For instance, a person with diplegic cerebral palsy would have limited movement in both legs or both arms.
Hemiplegia or hemiparesis: Hemiplegic cerebral palsy affects one side of the body. For instance, a person with hemiplegic cerebral palsy would have limited movement in the left or right side of the body, including both the leg and the arm.
Quadriplegia or quadriparesis: Quadriplegic cerebral palsy affects all four limbs. A person with quadriplegic cerebral palsy will have movement limitations in both legs and both arms.

Motor Disturbance Classification

Spastic Cerebral Palsy: Spastic cerebral palsy causes the muscles to be very tight and stiff, a condition known as hypertonia. This is because too many muscles become active all at once. Instead of the muscles coordinating in pairs the way they are supposed to, with one muscle group contracting while the other group relaxes, the muscles become active at the same time. This causes the person to have jerky movements. A person with spastic cerebral palsy typically has a “scissor gait,” which means that their knees and thighs may cross or touch while walking, and they may be crouched and walk on their tip toes.
Athetoid/Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy (ADCP): Athetoid/dyskinetic cerebral palsy causes movements to be slow and writhing or fast and jerky. People with ADCP have mixed muscle tone – both hypertonia and hypotonia (limpness) – and may have trouble holding themselves in an upright position
Ataxic Cerebral Palsy: Ataxic cerebral palsy mainly causes problems with coordination, and the affected individual may have hypotonia and tremors. It also is common for people with this type of cerebral palsy to have trouble seeing and hearing.
Other Important Terms:
- Rigidity: Rigidity is characterized by extremely tight muscles and muscular resistance to movement.
- Tremor: Tremors are characterized by the uncontrollable shaking of muscles. Tremors interfere with coordination.

Causes of Cerebral Palsy

There are a number of factors that cause cerebral palsy. Some cases are caused by hereditary or brain development issues while others are due to medical negligence or malpractice, like a doctor failing to properly diagnose and treat a problem during labor and delivery.

Specific causes of cerebral palsy include:

Oxygen deprivation in the baby caused by placental abruption, placenta previa, uterine (womb) rupture, mismanagement of Cytotec and Pitocin, delayed emergency C-section, improper fetal heart rate monitoring, meconium aspiration syndrome, umbilical cord prolapse, nuchal cord, preeclampsia, oligohydramnios, and premature rupture of the membranes (PROM).
Infection in the mother that causes infection in the baby’s brain after birth, such as meningitis. Infections include chorioamnionitis and villitis, group B strep (GBS), urinary tract infection (UTI), bacterial vaginosis (BV), and herpes simplex virus (HSV).
Trauma to the baby’s head that causes brain bleeds. Trauma can be caused by improper use of forceps and vacuum extractors, mismanagement of cephalopelvic disproportion (CPD) and macrosomia, failure to move on to a C-section when shoulder dystocia is present, and improper management of a baby who is in an abnormal presentation, such as a breech or face presentation.
Too much bilirubin, which results in jaundice. When physicians fail to properly monitor and manage a baby’s bilirubin levels, too much of it can build up in the blood, which can then cause the bilirubin to enter the baby’s brain tissue. This is toxic to the baby’s brain and causes a form of brain damage called kernicterus, which can result in cerebral palsy.
Failure to quickly deliver a baby by C-section when the baby is in trouble. In addition, a baby may be poorly managed in the hospital after birth, and this can cause problems such as infection, oxygen deprivation/HIE, and kernicterus. Failure to properly manage a baby with breathing problems can cause the baby to have overventilation injuries and/or long-term oxygen deprivation, which can lead to cerebral palsy.

Common Questions About Cerebral Palsy