In over 90% of the cases the damage occurs before or at birth. Probably the most common cause is cerebral hypoxia or poor oxygen supply to the brain. A maternal infection spreading to the baby within the uterus is an occasional cause. A rare cause is kernicterus, which results from an excess of bilirubin (bile pigment) in babies with hemolytic disease of the newborn. The bile pigment damages the basal ganglia or the nerve cell clusters in the brain. Possible birth causes include trauma during delivery, head injury, encephalitis or meningitis. In many cases, no one knows for sure what caused the brain injury or what may have been done to prevent the injury.

Sometimes injuries to a baby's brain happen while the baby is still in the mother's womb (before birth). The injury might be caused by an accident in which the mother is hurt. If a mother has a medical problem such as high blood pressure or diabetes, this can also cause problems in the baby. Problems after birth may happen when a baby is born too soon (premature delivery) and his body is not ready to live outside his mother's womb. Even babies born at the right time can have infections, or bleeding in their brain which causes a brain injury because the brain is still developing even after birth.

About 10 to 20 percent of children who have cerebral palsy acquire the disorder after birth. Acquired cerebral palsy results from brain damage in the first few months or years of life and often follows 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.

Congenital cerebral palsy, on the other hand, is present at birth, although it may not be detected for several months. In most cases, the cause of congenital cerebral palsy is unknown.

Some of these causes of congenital cerebral palsy include:

• Infections during pregnancy.
• German measles, or rubella, is caused by a virus that can infect pregnant women and, therefore, the fetus in the uterus, to cause damage to the developing nervous system.
• Other infections that can cause brain injury in the developing fetus include cytomegalovirus and toxoplasmosis.
• Jaundice in the infant.

Bile pigments, compounds that are normally found in small amounts in the bloodstream, are produced when blood cells are destroyed. When many blood cells are destroyed in a short time, as in the condition called Rh incompatibility, the yellow-colored pigments can build up and cause jaundice. Severe, untreated jaundice can damage brain cells.

Rh incompatibility:

In this blood condition, the mother's body produces immune cells called antibodies that destroy the fetus's blood cells, leading to a form of jaundice in the newborn.

The most important thing to remember is that you do not "catch" CP from another person, and you do not develop CP later in life. It is not inherited. It is caused by an injury to the brain near the time of birth. CP is NOT a disease, it is a condition. There is no known cure, however, there are many ways it can be managed. CP does not mean one is mentally disabled either. It is fact that much CP individuals are of average to highly intelligent.

Number and severity of the following symptoms vary widely among children with CP:

• Early sucking difficulty with breast or bottle.
  
• Lack of normal muscle tone (early).
  
• Slow development (walking, talking).
  
• Unusual body postures.
  
• Stiffness and muscle spasms (later).
  
• Purposeless body movements.
  
• Poor coordination or balance.
  
• Crossed eyes.
  
• Deafness.
  
• Convulsions.
  
• Various degrees of mental retardation.

Children with CP have damage to the area of their brain that controls muscle tone. Depending on where their brain injury is and how big it is, their muscle tone may be too tight, too loose, or a combination of too tight and loose. Muscle tone is what lets us keep our bodies in a certain position, like sitting with our heads up to look at the teacher in class. Changes in muscle tone let us move.

Try this:
Bend your arm to move your hand up to touch your nose. To do that, you must shorten, or increase the tone in the muscle in the front of the upper part of your arm (biceps muscle) while you lengthen, or decrease the tone in the back of the upper part of your arm (triceps muscle). To move your arm smoothly without jerks and without hitting yourself in the nose, the tone in muscles used to make that movement must change in a way that is just right - an even change to tighten one while loosening the other. Children with CP are not able to change their muscle tone in a smooth and even way, so their movements may be jerky or wobbly.

If muscle tone is too high or too tight, the term Spastic is used to describe the type of cerebral palsy. Children with spastic CP have stiff and jerky movements because their muscles are too tight. They often have a hard time moving from one position to another or letting go of something in their hand. This is the most common type of CP. About half of all people with CP have spastic CP. Diplegia - Patients have more extensive involvement of the lower extremity than the upper extremity.

Low muscle tone and poor coordination of movements is described as ataxic (a-tax-ick) CP. Kids with ataxic CP look very unsteady and shaky. They have alot of shakiness, like a tremor you might have seen in a very old person, especially when they are trying to do something like write or turn a page or cut with scissors. They also often have very poor balance and may be very unsteady when they walk. Because of the shaky movements and problems coordinating their muscles, kids with ataxic CP may take longer to finish writing or art projects.

The term athetoid is used to describe the type of cerebral palsy when muscle tone is mixed - sometimes too high and sometimes too low. Children with athetoid CP have trouble holding themselves in an upright, steady position for sitting or walking, and often show lots of movements of their face, arms and upper body that they don't mean to make (random, involuntary movements). These movements are usually big. For some kids with athetoid CP, it takes a lot of work and concentration to get their hand to a certain spot (like to scratch their nose or reach for a cup). Because of their mixed tone and trouble keeping a position, they may not be able to hold onto things (like a toothbrush or fork or pencil). About one-fourth of all people with CP have athetoid CP.

When muscle tone is too low in some muscles and too high in other muscles, the type of cerebral palsy is called mixed. About one-fourth of all people with CP have mixed CP.

Besides different kinds of muscle tone, kids with CP also show different parts of their bodies that are affected by the CP. This is also due to what part of their brain was hurt and how big the injury was.