Hesperian Health Guides
Chapter 9: Cerebral Palsy
What Is Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral palsy means “brain paralysis.” It is a disability that affects movement and body position. It comes from brain injury that happened before the baby was born, at birth, or as a baby. The whole brain is not injured, only parts of it, mainly parts that control movements. Once injured, the parts of the brain do not recover, nor do they get worse. However, the movements, body positions, and related problems can be improved or made worse depending on how we treat the child and how injured their brain happens to be. The earlier we start, the more improvement can be made.
In many countries cerebral palsy is the most frequent cause of physical disability. About 1 of every 500 babies is born with or develops cerebral palsy.
This page was updated:04 Apr 2024