Stiff legs and arms in Newborn

[seemashah]

Dear Doc,

My cousin gave birth to a baby girl in ending Jan. The baby was born in 37th week..normal dleivery. Every thing looked fine with the baby for the first day. Then it was noticed that she has stiff legs and arms. She wasnt drinking milk so they were feeding her thru a tube from her nose. Later, they inserted a feeding tube thru her tummy. Moreover, she began to have siezures. A whole lot of tests were done on her which included genetic testig, chromosoal testing, spine test, MRI of her brain etc. All the test results were OK. They have started therapy for her stiffness and some medicine for her siezures. My cousin is really depressed and doesnt know what to do next. The docs have said that they will repeat the tests when the baby is around 3 months and then they may have a clear pic. I was of the opinion that she should go to UCLA children hosp and see a doc there.
So any suggestions,thoughts, expereince etc will be appreciated.
Thanks.

[mona5223]

A related discussion, stiff hands and legs in infant was started.

[olerato]

A related discussion, Baby born with Stiff legs and arms was started.

[Yao Sun, MD, PhD]

It sounds like your cousin's baby has had an extensive workup for her problems.  There are multiple factors that influence whether a second opinion is useful.  Your cousin should have an open discussion with the physicians currently taking care of the baby to see whether they think a second opinion might be useful.