About Bridget
About Cerebral Palsy
About Team SMILE
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About Cerebral Palsy
All children grow and develop at their own pace and in their own way. Children with Cerebral Palsy
experience delays in development that may limit their ability to learn, speak, or walk.
Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a condition that affects thousands of babies and children each year. It is not contagious, which means you can't catch it from anyone who has it.
The word cerebral means having to do with the brain. The word palsy means a weakness or problem in the way a person moves or positions his or her body. There are three types
of Cerebral Palsy: spastic, athetoid and ataxic. The most common type of CP is spastic. A child with spastic CP can't relax his or her muscles or the muscles may be stiff.
Cerebral Palsy can be caused by injuries during pregnancy or soon after birth.
Congenital Cerebral Palsy is present at birth, although it may not be detected for months. Causes of Congenital CP include: infections during pregnancy, jaundice in the
infant, Rh incompatibility, oxygen shortage or stroke.
Risk factors that increase the possibility that a child will later be diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy are: breech presentation, complicated labor and delivery, Low Apgar
score, low birth weight and premature birth and multiple births.
Acquired Cerebral Palsy results from brain damage in the first few months or years of life and can follow brain infections, such as bacterial meningitis or viral
encephalitis, or results from head injury -- most often from a motor vehicle accident, a fall, or child abuse
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