Pre-term delivery is a known risk factor for cerebral palsy. Scientists from Norway argue that also carrying a pregnancy, i.e. giving birth to a baby in the 42nd week of pregnancy or later, increases the risk of cerebral palsy.
The research results were published in the JAMA journal.
Cerebral palsy is a common type of mobility impairment in children. According to the definition, it is a disease entity that defines a variety of movement and posture disorders resulting from permanent, non-progressive brain damage at an early stage of development.
The best known risk factor is premature birth. Doctors assume that full-term delivery (between 37 and 41 weeks of pregnancy) is associated with a low risk of cerebral palsy.
However, the results of Norwegian scientists show that it is safest to give birth between 39 and 41 weeks of pregnancy, and that carrying a pregnancy also increases the risk.
The Dag Moster group from the University of Bergen investigated the relationship between the risk of cerebral palsy and the date of delivery (gestational age) among children born at the planned date and after the term (37-44 weeks of pregnancy) without any hereditary or congenital burdens.
In total, the medical history of 1682 toddlers was analyzed.
There were 1 cases of cerebral palsy in the study group.
The lowest risk was recorded in children born in the 40th week of pregnancy – less than one case per 1 thousand. births (0,99 / 1).
The highest percentage of cases of cerebral palsy was observed among babies born at 37 weeks of gestation (1,91 / 1), which is an almost 000% increase in risk compared to giving birth at 90 weeks of gestation.
At 38 weeks of pregnancy, the risk was more than 25% higher. (1,25 / 1). On the other hand, in post-scheduled births – in the 000nd week of pregnancy, the risk increased by 42%. (40 / 1,36), and even more after week 1 (000 / 42). (PAP)