Could a problem birth be the cause of Autism

Hi, I was just wondering if anyone else had a problem during childbirth that they think might be the cause of their childs Autism, my daughter was left for 5 hours pushing while my Grandson was stuck, my daughter was finally taken to theatre for a cecerian but first the Dr tried forceps where in the end they managed to bring my Grandson into the world, but the shock at the sight of my Grandsons head frightened my daughter so much she could not hold him, my daughter was also exhausted and and fell asleep after 29 hours of labour, my Grandson was given to me and I gave him his first feed, I asked the Dr what was wrong with my Grandsons head and I was told it was because he had been stuck for so long the top of his head to one side had was swollen so much that it was raised at least 2 inches above the rest of his head and was like a cone, they told me it would go down in a few hours, when it didnt go down I mentioned it to a nurse and she said no it would take about 3 days or so when after 3 weeks it still hadn't gone we took him to see the health visitor and she told us not to worry, I have never known a swelling to last over 3 YEARS, 3 years and it was still slightly visible when his hair was wet, luckily he had a mass of blonde curly hair which disguised it, my Grandson was such a good baby and hardly ever cried except for the sudden outbursts of screams that sounded as though he was in severe pain, he would be asleep and all of a sudden would wake hysterical and it would take a lot of cuddles and singing to him to calm him down this started within his first week of life the GP and health visitor both told us my Grandson was fine the sudden outbursts stopped at around 5 months of age and the only thing I can associate with these screams was his head there was no other explanation for it, apart from these every so often my Grandson was a little angel, until he was about 2 years of age and he started getting very violent to  my 2nd Grandson, his cousin, who was just 5 months younger than him, this was the start of what now has been diagnosed as Autism, it took another 3 years and many many appointments with his paediatrician to get a diagnosis, I would like to know if anyone else has been through a similar experience.

Parents
  • Very interesting comments about big heads and also whether any issues at birth can cointribute to the onset of autism.  My little boy has a head which is literally on the 99.9th centile, it is seriously enormous but luckily he loves his grub and is a stocky little "bruiser" so it doesn't look as bad as it did for about 6 months after he had pneumonia when he got quite skinny.  He can more or less get away with it, as it were!

    His birth was pretty quick although at one point there were concerns about his heart rate which dropped and the student doctor, thankfully, noticed (at least someone did) so within seconds about 8 people came rushing into the room with the ward sister shouting that they needed "to get this baby out now!"

    I agree that it's genetic and I can see the genetic predisposition in both of my parents (and, yes, if I'm honest, probably in me too).  I do think my boy has a double or even triple whammy, as it were, since my husband didn't speak clearly until he was 5 so I suspect he's got the autistic genes PLUS general speech and language difficulties.  However, I do subscribe to the environmental theory (ie genetic predisposition plus something in the environment) as I'm convinced that pneumonia at 20 months, temp of 40+ that would not go down and eventually being admitted to hospital was what brought on the autism for him.  

    Of course, whether I'm right or wrong is of no consequence but I don't suppose it stops many of us parents wondering what caused the autism.

Reply
  • Very interesting comments about big heads and also whether any issues at birth can cointribute to the onset of autism.  My little boy has a head which is literally on the 99.9th centile, it is seriously enormous but luckily he loves his grub and is a stocky little "bruiser" so it doesn't look as bad as it did for about 6 months after he had pneumonia when he got quite skinny.  He can more or less get away with it, as it were!

    His birth was pretty quick although at one point there were concerns about his heart rate which dropped and the student doctor, thankfully, noticed (at least someone did) so within seconds about 8 people came rushing into the room with the ward sister shouting that they needed "to get this baby out now!"

    I agree that it's genetic and I can see the genetic predisposition in both of my parents (and, yes, if I'm honest, probably in me too).  I do think my boy has a double or even triple whammy, as it were, since my husband didn't speak clearly until he was 5 so I suspect he's got the autistic genes PLUS general speech and language difficulties.  However, I do subscribe to the environmental theory (ie genetic predisposition plus something in the environment) as I'm convinced that pneumonia at 20 months, temp of 40+ that would not go down and eventually being admitted to hospital was what brought on the autism for him.  

    Of course, whether I'm right or wrong is of no consequence but I don't suppose it stops many of us parents wondering what caused the autism.

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