(Scott, 1976;Thomson et al., 1977), making it more difficult to identify the precise role of asphyxia in causing brain damage. The present study was undertaken in a set of neurologically abnormal babies with a history of fetal distress in labour, to find out whether the types of neurological signs exhibited by such babies have any bearing on their outcome in later infancy or childhood.
MethodsSubjects. Newborn babies, 37 to 44 weeks' gestational age, with a history of fetal distress, were diagnosed as severely neurologically abnormal in the early newborn period by colleagues working at the same hospital, because of the unequivocal presence of abnormal tone (hypertonia or hypotonia), irritability on handling (marked increase in spontaneous activity with alteration in respiration, or crying), a 'cerebral' (high-pitched) cry, or convulsions. These