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Q: My infant son sustained a birth injury and now I think he may have cerebral palsy. What are some of the early signs of this condition?

A: The time period following a birth injury can be nerve-racking as you wait to see if there are any long-term effects. If you are concerned that your child could have cerebral palsy, you need to contact your doctor immediately.

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), “doctors use the term cerebral palsy to refer to any one of a number of neurological disorders that appear in infancy or early childhood and permanently affect body movement and muscle coordination, but aren’t progressive.”

The NINDS states that the early warning signs of cerebral palsy surface before the child turns 3 years old. Some of these symptoms include delayed motor skills and failure to reach developmental milestones. Infants with cerebral palsy may have abnormal muscle tone, which makes them either appear relaxed or rigid.

Children affected by cerebral palsy have been known to have strange posture or favor one side of the body more than the other.

Sometimes doctors, hospitals and other medical providers make mistakes or are negligent. These errors can lead to serious birth injuries. Contact an experienced New York birth injury lawyer at the law firm of Rappaport, Glass, Greene and Levine for more information at 800.734.9445.