Can new-born babies have seizures?
It is a well-known fact that anyone at any age can have seizures and new-born babies are no exception. Fits during the first month of life are not uncommon and usually occur in the first week of life. Most often the cause of fits in the neonatal period is an underlying metabolic abnormality (low blood sugar, calcium or magnesium). These causes can easily be diagnosed and treated accordingly. Such infants do not necessarily suffer from epilepsy in later life. In some children problems at birth can result in damage to the brain. The brain damage can be due to difficulties during labour, bleeding into the brain, lack of oxygen supply to the brain or developmental abnormalities of the brain itself. In many of such children, epilepsy can develop during later life.
