Does Lack of Prenatal Vitamins Increase Cerebral Palsy Risk?
Cerebral palsy affects approximately three out of every 1,000 live births, making it one of the most common motor disabilities in children. Parents and healthcare providers often wonder what factors during pregnancy might increase or decrease the risk of this condition. While prenatal nutrition plays an important role in fetal development, the search results available do not directly address whether a lack of prenatal vitamins increases cerebral palsy risk.
What the research does show is that certain prenatal medications and supplements have been studied in connection with cerebral palsy. A study from the University of Copenhagen analyzed nearly 190,000 mother-child pairs and found that women who took aspirin during pregnancy were 2.4 times more likely to deliver children with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy. The same study found that acetaminophen use during pregnancy was associated with a 30 to 60 percent increase in cerebral palsy diagnoses. However, researchers noted they could not establish a direct causal connection, and the results suggest that further study is necessary.
On the positive side, emerging research suggests that certain nutrients may help protect fetal development. Creatine supplementation during pregnancy has shown promise in animal studies for protecting fetal organs, including the brain, from damage caused by lack of oxygen. Researchers at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research have conducted preclinical studies spanning over 15 years that consistently showed no adverse effects when creatine was supplemented in the maternal diet. However, direct large-scale human studies on creatine safety during pregnancy are still limited and actively underway.
Research has also explored other interventions that may affect cerebral palsy risk. A study found that inducing labor once pregnant women reach 37 weeks of gestation appears to lower the chance of neonatal death, asphyxia, and cerebral palsy. Additionally, small exploratory trials have investigated whether a specific combination of nutrients including long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, choline, and nucleotides might help infants at risk of neurological impairment, though these studies were not sufficiently powered to draw definitive conclusions.
The broader picture suggests that prenatal nutrition matters for fetal development, but the specific question of whether lacking prenatal vitamins increases cerebral palsy risk has not been directly studied in the available research. What is clear is that pregnant women should consult with their healthcare providers about appropriate prenatal care and supplementation, as certain medications and nutrients can influence fetal development and health outcomes.
Sources
https://www.bila.ca/does-aspirin-use-during-pregnancy-increase-the-risk-of-cerebral-palsy/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12752120/
https://www.contemporaryobgyn.net/view/earlier-inductions-lead-better-outcomes
