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All women who go into labour before 30 weeks will now be given the treatment under a scheme being rolled out by NHS England.

The move, which follows a pilot study at St Michael’s Hospital, Bristol, is expected to save thousands of babies from lifelong physical and mental disability.

The magnesium sulphate, given before the 32nd week of pregnancy, reduces the risk of all grades of brain damage by up to 40 per cent and is even more effective against the most severe form

of cerebral palsy, slashing it by 50 per cent.

Researchers are not clear why magnesium, which plays a key role in muscle and skeletal development and function, is protective.

But they believe once injected into the mother’s bloodstream, it reaches the baby’s brain through the placenta, where it blocks a cascade of toxic chemicals caused by lack of oxygen.

I feel the magnesium sulphate may have helped protect Cormac, who was at high risk

Dr Karen Luytan expert in infant neurology at St Michael’s and clinical lead for the injection’s roll-out, said: “This is the only treatment known to protect against cerebral palsy.

Professor Tony Young, NHS England’s national clinical lead for innovation, said: “The latest and greatest innovations in NHS care do not have to be a new gadget or gizmo.

“Something as simple as magnesium sulphate is helping to reduce the numbers of babies born with cerebral palsy and NHS England is now making it available to expectant mothers across the

country.”

The preventative treatment has already been used widely in Australia, Canada and parts of the United States.

Ten per cent of very premature babies develop cerebral palsy, caused by an injury or malformation while the brain is developing – before, during, or after birth.

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The condition leads to a range of symptoms including stiff and weak muscles, tremors and poor co-ordination, plus hearing, sight, swallowing and speech problems.

The magnesium sulphate treatment is designed for only early labour occurrences.

TV producer Elly Salisbury, 40, one of the first women to be treated with magnesium sulphate during the premature birth of her twin boys, believes the therapy may have saved her son, Cormac,

now five, from developing cerebral palsy.

Cormac’s twin brother, who had already suffered a devastating brain bleed before the treatment, died four days after he was born.

Ms Salisbury, from Bristol, said: “I feel the magnesium sulphate may have helped protect Cormac, who was at high risk.”

Around one in 400 UK children are born with cerebral palsy, leading to about 1,800 new cases a year. A total of 30,000 have been diagnosed across the country.

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