Gestational diabetes is not considered a direct cause of cerebral palsy, but it can contribute to conditions that increase a baby’s risk of brain injury, which in turn may lead to cerebral palsy in some cases.
Cerebral palsy is a group of long term movement and posture disorders caused by damage to the developing brain or by abnormal brain development during pregnancy, birth, or shortly after birth. It affects muscle tone, coordination, and motor skills, and it does not get worse over time, although its effects can change as a child grows. Researchers now know that cerebral palsy usually arises from a combination of genetic factors and environmental events such as lack of oxygen, infection, stroke, or bleeding in the baby’s brain, rather than from one single cause in most children.https://cerebralpalsyguidance.com/2025/12/12/researchers-use-mri-to-diagnose-find-causes-of-cerebral-palsy-in-children/
Gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes that appears during pregnancy. Hormonal changes make it harder for the body to use insulin, and blood sugar levels can rise. If this is not well controlled, extra glucose crosses the placenta to the baby. The baby responds by making more insulin and often grows larger than average, especially in the shoulders and trunk. This pattern of growth is called macrosomia and it increases the chance of difficult labor and delivery.https://nybirthinjury.com/gestational-diabetes-birth-complications/
When a baby is very large because of gestational diabetes, several delivery problems become more likely. One of the best known is shoulder dystocia, when the baby’s shoulder gets stuck after the head is delivered. This can lead to nerve injuries such as brachial plexus palsy or Erb’s palsy, and sometimes to fractures or oxygen problems if the delivery is prolonged.https://nybirthinjury.com/gestational-diabetes-birth-complications/ These nerve injuries are not cerebral palsy, but the same difficult delivery that causes them can also increase the risk of reduced oxygen to the baby’s brain. If lack of oxygen is severe or lasts long enough, it can cause brain injury that later shows up as cerebral palsy.
Some sources list gestational diabetes itself among the prenatal risk factors for cerebral palsy. For example, Triumph Therapeutics includes gestational diabetes along with conditions such as perinatal stroke, newborn hypoglycemia, and placental or umbilical cord problems as factors that may increase the likelihood of cerebral palsy.https://www.triumphtherapeutics.com/what-causes-cerebral-palsy-understanding-risk-factors-and-early-support/ These are described as risk factors, not guarantees. A risk factor means that the condition is seen more often in children who develop cerebral palsy than in those who do not, but many babies with the risk factor are born completely healthy.
Medical reviews of children with cerebral palsy show that maternal diabetes is one of several antenatal issues that appear more often among affected children. In one clinical study, diabetes during pregnancy accounted for a portion of prenatal risk factors in children with cerebral palsy, alongside maternal bleeding and infections.https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12748543/ This supports the idea that diabetes, including gestational diabetes, can be part of a complex picture of risks that together influence brain development.
Specialized cerebral palsy and birth injury resources also point out that pregnancy complications such as gestational diabetes or preeclampsia can increase the chance that a baby will show signs of distress before or during labor.https://www.nationalbirthinjurylaw.com/what-causes-cerebral-palsy Fetal distress often reflects problems like reduced oxygen or blood flow, which are known pathways to neonatal brain injury. In addition, gestational diabetes is linked to higher rates of placental problems and stillbirth in late pregnancy if blood sugar is poorly controlled, again showing how maternal metabolism and placenta function can indirectly affect the baby’s brain health.https://nybirthinjury.com/gestational-diabetes-birth-complications/
Putting this together, the relationship between gestational diabetes and cerebral palsy is best understood as indirect:
• Gestational diabetes can cause macrosomia, which raises the risk of difficult labor, shoulder dystocia, emergency interventions, and periods of reduced oxygen for the baby.
• It is linked with other complications such as stillbirth, placental problems, and newborn issues like low blood sugar, all of which can be stressful or damaging to the baby’s brain.
• Population studies and clinical reports find diabetes among the antenatal risk factors in children later diagnosed with cerebral palsy, but usually in combination with other complications rather than as the only cause.https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12748543/https://www.triumphtherapeutics.com/what-causes-cerebral-palsy-understanding-risk-factors-and-early-support/
This means that having gestational diabetes does not mean a baby will develop cerebral palsy. Many women with gestational diabetes deliver babies who never develop any movement disorder. The key issue is how well blood sugar is monitored and controlled, and how carefully the pregnancy and birth are managed.
Good prenatal care can reduce many of the risks associated with gestational diabetes. This usually involves:
• Regular blood sugar checks and diet changes, sometimes with insulin or other medications
• Frequent prenatal visits and ultrasounds to track
