FED: Infections during pregnancy increase cerebral palsy risk

AAP General News (Australia)
02-16-2009
FED: Infections during pregnancy increase cerebral palsy risk

By Danny Rose, Medical Writer

SYDNEY, Feb 16 AAP - Women who develop infections while pregnant have an increased
risk of bearing a child with cerebral palsy.

Danish researchers scoured the birth-related medical records of almost 500 children
- both with and without the disorder - born during the 1980s.

They found mothers who had suffered common vaginal conditions, such a urinary tract
infection, during pregnancy were three to six times more likely to have a child with cerebral
palsy.

The research will be officially released at a global cerebral palsy summit to be staged
in Sydney from Wednesday.

Commenting on the findings, Cerebral Palsy Australia president Diana Heggie said it
offered a rare insight into the cause of the most common form of childhood disability.

"To date, research relating to the cause of cerebral palsy has provided very little
conclusive evidence," Ms Heggie said.

"These findings linking maternal infections during pregnancy to the development of
some causes of cerebral palsy is paramount, to both those working in the field and expecting
parents."

Ms Heggie said the findings offered doctors and parents an "identifiable risk factor"

to address during pregnancy and "progress towards identifying causes helps us to better
understand ways to reduce the incidence of cerebral palsy".

New research into a second risk factor will also be detailed at the summit.

Researchers, again in Denmark, also found higher rates of cerebral palsy among children
born as a result of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) and other forms of assisted conception.

Babies born prematurely, or as part of a multiple birth, are known to suffer higher
rates of the disorder and these are more common in IVF births than normal births.

The Third International Cerebral Palsy Conference - the largest of its kind in the
world - will be staged at the Sydney Convention Centre over four days from Wednesday.

AAP dr/it/de

KEYWORD: CEREBRAL

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