Birth trauma and brain damage.

Birth trauma is a rare primary cause of perinatal death, occurring at most only once in every 1000-2000 births. As a cause of brain damage and later handicap it is often difficult to dissociate injury at birth from the concomitant effects of asphyxia, growth retardation or preterm delivery. A continuum of reproductive casualty has been postulated, but for trauma is not proven. Among children with cerebral palsy and severe mental retardation trauma may be implicated in a few cases, possibly 1-2 of 1000 deliveries. Vaginal breech delivery has been related to a higher incidence of minimal brain damage syndromes and some of this damage probably has its origin in perinatal trauma. The pregnancies where there is particular risk of birth trauma include those where the infant is large for gestational age, has intrauterine growth retardation, is delivered preterm, is vaginally delivered in breech presentation or is from multiple gestation. Particular care must be given to diagnosis and preventive measures in these cases and competent handling is required if the disaster of brain damage caused by traumatic birth is to be minimized.