Is maternal dehydration linked to cerebral palsy?
Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that affect movement and muscle tone, often caused by brain damage before, during, or shortly after birth. Common causes include oxygen deprivation to the baby’s brain, known as hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy or HIE, infections, jaundice complications, and birth injuries. Maternal dehydration, where a pregnant woman loses too much body fluid, is not directly listed as a cause of cerebral palsy in medical studies. However, it can play an indirect role by leading to other problems that harm the fetal brain.
During pregnancy, staying hydrated helps maintain blood volume and blood flow to the placenta, which delivers oxygen and nutrients to the baby. If a mother becomes dehydrated, it might reduce this blood flow, potentially stressing the fetus. Severe cases could contribute to complications like low amniotic fluid or placental issues, which in turn raise the risk of oxygen loss to the brain. For example, HIE from oxygen deprivation during labor is a known trigger for cerebral palsy, and factors like maternal blood pressure problems or prolonged labor can worsen it. Dehydration might add to these risks if it leads to low blood pressure or poor placental function.
Newborn dehydration has clearer links to brain risks, but not directly to maternal causes of cerebral palsy. In cases of severe jaundice, babies who feed poorly or lose weight can become dehydrated, slowing the clearance of bilirubin from the blood. High bilirubin levels can cross into the brain, causing kernicterus, a type of damage that sometimes leads to cerebral palsy along with hearing loss. This is rare, affecting less than 10% of jaundice cases, and happens when doctors miss warning signs like poor feeding.
Dehydration also appears in other newborn brain issues. For instance, in neonatal cerebral sinovenous thrombosis, a blood clot in brain veins, dehydration was the top risk factor in over 80% of cases studied. These clots can cause seizures and long-term neurologic problems, though not specifically cerebral palsy. Maternal exercise studies show benefits for fetal bone and joint development, but they mention dehydration only in lab methods, not as a cause of movement disorders.
No research directly connects maternal dehydration alone to cerebral palsy. Most evidence points to it as one possible factor in a chain of events, like reduced oxygen or jaundice buildup, especially if untreated. Doctors recommend pregnant women drink plenty of fluids and monitor for signs of dehydration, such as dark urine or dizziness, to avoid any risks. Birth injuries from medical errors, like delayed responses to fetal distress, remain the main focus for preventing cerebral palsy.
Sources
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12701528/
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/stroke/articles/10.3389/fstro.2025.1692460/full
https://www.dko-law.com/blog/can-birth-injuries-cause-autism-or-adhd/
https://www.cerebralpalsyhub.com/birth-injury/kernicterus/
https://www.mannarinoandbrasfield.com/blog/what-is-hypoxic-ischemic-encephalopathy
https://www.infantcentre.ie/publications/
