Dutch Study: Better maternal care brings cerebral palsy rates down

Improved infant care before, during and just after birth appears to decrease the incidence of the neurodevelopmental condition cerebral palsy (CP). According to a new study from the Journal of Pediatrics, among 3000 infants born prematurely at the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands, only 2.2 percent of such at-risk infants were diagnosed between 2002 and 2005, down from 6.5 percent born between 1990 and 1993. Those diagnosed in the later years also experienced less severe forms of the disease. CP is a result of brain injuries suffered during development and during and shortly after birth. “The tiniest infants — those born the most premature — are those most susceptible to CP,” said ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross. “Better prenatal care and the lower rate of unexpected and teenage pregnancy in The Netherlands has led to this propitious improvement. I wonder if a similar trend is occurring here?”