# Maternal Vitamin Deficiencies and Cerebral Palsy: What Research Shows
Cerebral palsy is a condition that affects muscle control and movement in children. It happens when there is damage to the developing brain before, during, or shortly after birth. While many factors can increase the risk of cerebral palsy, including birth complications and lack of oxygen to the brain, the role of maternal vitamin deficiencies is an important area of research that scientists are still working to understand.
What causes cerebral palsy?
Cerebral palsy develops when the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain that controls motor functions and muscle movements, is damaged. This damage can occur before birth, during delivery, or in the early weeks after a baby is born. Several risk factors make cerebral palsy more likely, including complications during delivery, head injury or trauma during birth, low birth weight, premature birth, and multiple births such as twins or triplets. Maternal infections and nutritional deficiencies are also listed among the known risk factors.
The connection between folic acid and brain development
Folic acid is a B vitamin that plays a crucial role in fetal development. Research has shown that maternal folic acid supplementation may have positive effects on a child’s brain development. According to recent research, appropriate maternal folic acid supplementation may improve intellectual development and reduce the risk of autism traits, ADHD, behavioral problems, and language problems in children. However, the specific relationship between folic acid supplementation and cerebral palsy remains inconsistent across different studies, meaning scientists have not yet reached a clear consensus on this particular connection.
Other important nutrients during pregnancy
Beyond folic acid, other nutrients are essential for proper brain development. Iodine is one such nutrient. Research from the University College Cork found that 60 percent of pregnant women in an Irish study showed signs of iodine deficiency. Iodine is essential for baby brain development, and the body’s need for iodine increases by 50 percent during pregnancy. Even some women who were taking pregnancy supplements were affected, suggesting that awareness about iodine intake during pregnancy needs to be improved.
Oxygen deprivation and brain injury
One of the most significant causes of cerebral palsy is lack of oxygen or blood flow to the brain. A condition called Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy, or HIE, occurs when a baby’s brain does not receive enough oxygen or blood flow just before or shortly after birth. This condition is the principal cause of infant mortality and long-term neurologic disability, and it accounts for about one-fifth of all cerebral palsy cases.
What medications during pregnancy matter
The medications a mother takes during pregnancy can also affect a child’s neurological development. Research has shown that children whose mothers took valproic acid, an anti-seizure medication, during pregnancy were more than 70 percent more likely to develop ADHD than children whose mothers did not take this medication. In contrast, lamotrigine, another anti-seizure medication, did not show the same association with developmental problems, suggesting that certain medications may be safer than others during pregnancy.
The importance of proper nutrition
Given that vitamins and minerals are essential for fetal development, ensuring that pregnant women have adequate nutrition is important. Researchers have concluded that appropriate maternal folic acid supplementation may have positive effects on offspring’s neurodevelopmental outcomes. However, scientists also note that further high-quality studies are needed to confirm the optimal dosage of folic acid and the right time to begin supplementation, as well as to investigate the underlying mechanisms of how these nutrients protect brain development.
What we still need to learn
While maternal nutritional deficiencies are listed as a risk factor for cerebral palsy, the exact mechanisms and the strength of these connections are still being studied. The association between maternal folic acid supplementation and childhood cerebral palsy remains inconsistent across different research studies. This means that while nutrition clearly matters for fetal brain development, scientists are still working to understand precisely how different vitamin deficiencies contribute to cerebral palsy specifically.
Sources
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09581596.2025.2605786
https://www.adhdevidence.org/blog-tags/pregnancy
https://www.sokolovelaw.com/birth-injuries/cerebral-palsy/
https://www.infantcentre.ie/news/
https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/newsroom/news-releases/research?page=all&hits=380
