Cerebral palsy is caused by an injury to the brain usually before, during, or shortly after birth. In many cases, no-one knows for sure what caused the brain injury or what may have been done to prevent the injury. Sometimes injuries to a baby's brain happen while the baby is still in the mother's womb (before birth). The injury might be caused by an infection or by an accident in which the mother is hurt. If a mother has a medical problem such as high blood pressure or diabetes, this can also cause problems in the baby. There may be problems during birth such as the baby not getting enough oxygen, or a difficult delivery in which the baby's brain is injured. Problems after birth may happen when a baby is born too soon (premature delivery) and his body is not ready to live outside his mother's womb. Even babies born at the right time can have infections, or bleeding in their brain which causes a brain injury because the brain is still developing even after birth.

An unfortunate accident later in life, such as an automobile crash, or perhaps a head injury during a mugging can cause Cerebral Palsy. Cerebral Palsy is not infectious and can only be caused by physical Brain damage.

The most important thing to remember is that you do not "catch" Cerebral Palsy from another person, and you do not develop Cerebral Palsy later in life. It is caused by an injury to the brain usually near the time of birth.