Low birth weight increases risk of Cerebral Palsy

According to medical experts, ensuring that your baby gains enough weight in the womb is essential to protecting your child’s long-term health. Low birth weight can lead to a variety of health concerns including cerebral palsy, learning disabilities, respiratory, and sensory problems. A mother-to-be can take a number of steps to help ensure her baby is born at a healthy birth weight. It is also your doctor’s responsibility to help you identify and address the risk factors for low birth weight that may develop during pregnancy.

By definition, a child born weighing 5.5 pounds or less is considered a low birth weight baby. According to medical professionals, low birth weight babies fall into two general categories: babies born pre-term (less than 37 weeks of gestation) and those born full-term (between 37 and 42 weeks). Full term babies with low birth weight are also called “small-for-date” babies. Pre-term babies with a low birth weight are at the greatest risk of developing health problems. According to a study conducted in Europe, children born in the bottom ten percent of the group studied (based on birth weight) were six times more likely to develop cerebral palsy than those with higher birth weights.

One in every thirteen children born in the United States is born with a low birth weight. One of the most important ways to help ensure your baby is born healthy is to make sure you, the mother-to-be, are healthy during pregnancy. Health experts have found that women who smoke and teen mothers are at a greater risk of delivering children with a low birth weight. Babies birthed by women who smoke during pregnancy are two to three times more likely to be born with a low birth weight. If you are pregnant, quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do for your unborn child.

There are a variety of other factors which can increase the risk of a child being born at a low birth weight. Poverty, stress, and physical and emotional abuse are factors which can lead to low birth weight. When a mother-to-be is underweight before becoming pregnant or fails to gain enough weight during pregnancy (approximately 22 pounds or more) she also risks having a baby with low birth weight. Your doctor should monitor your health and the health of the baby throughout your pregnancy to mitigate the risks of low birth weight.

Once you learn you have become pregnant, it is extremely important to receive a medical exam and continue to get frequent routine check-ups. A doctor should be able to identify and address prenatal risk factors to reduce the risk of medical conditions like cerebral palsy and other developmental problems. While low birth weight is a significant risk factor in a child’s development of cerebral palsy, several other factors may also increase the risk of this condition. Prenatal infection or disease, bleeding, RH incompatibility, fetal stroke, jaundice, and other conditions are just some of the risk factors for cerebral palsy. When proper precautions are taken, many of these risk factors can be addressed and mitigated before they cause damage to the child.