Unsupervised breastfeeding was related to sudden unexpected postnatal collapse during early skin‐to‐skin contact in cerebral palsy cases

AIM: This study aimed to identify the clinical features of infants who were healthy at birth, but developed sudden unexpected collapse and were then diagnosed with cerebral palsy before 5 years of age. METHODS: We retrospectively analysed 1182 records from the no‐fault Japan Obstetric Compensation System for Cerebral Palsy database up to 2016. This identified 45 subjects (3.8%) who were subsequently diagnosed with severe cerebral palsy due to sudden unexpected postnatal collapse (SUPC). They were all healthy at birth, based on the criteria of five‐minute Apgar scores of seven or more, with normal umbilical cord blood gases and no need for neonatal resuscitation within five minutes of birth. RESULTS: The median birth weight of the 45 subjects (26 males) was 2770 g (range 2006‐3695 g). Of these, 10 developed SUPC during early skin‐to‐skin contact (SSC). Medical personnel were not present in all 10 cases: nine were being breastfed at the time and eight of the mothers did not notice their infant's abnormal condition until medical staff alerted them. CONCLUSION: This national study of children with cerebral palsy who appeared healthy at birth found that unsupervised breastfeeding was a common factor in cases of SUPC during early SSC.