Claim that events before birth cause cerebral palsy is disputed

The theory that cerebral palsy is caused by events during pregnancy rather than at birth was attacked at a conference last week. Lawyers and doctors at the Action for Victims of Medical Accidents' annual conference in Birmingham claimed that the hypothesis, which was outlined in a consensus statement in the BMJ last year (1999;319:1054-9), was founded on inadequate evidence and literature.

They admitted that most neurodevelopmental problems in children were not secondary to perinatal hypoxic-ischaemic damage but insisted that an …