AIBU to ask you please about your experiences with "Mongolian Blue Spot".

[DotRotten]

Regular namechanger.
I ask in kind of a professional capacity.

In my job I come across MBS or Congenital Dermal Melanocytosis very regularly.

As I'm not a doctor I cannot diagnose it, so have to refer parents to hospital to have it confirmed. If we don't any mark will be flagged as potential abuse.

I am very, very uncomfortable with the whole pathway. I don't even like saying MBS in front of parents as even the name is awful.

Can I ask of your experiences if your child has MBS?

My daughter has one and is biracial (White English & Black African) - when the surgeons presented her to me they showed it to me & said that it was common in mixed race & darker children. They wanted me to know it wasn't a bruise & funnily enough hers is at the top of her bum too. The name doesn't offend me, Mongolian is just a term for where someone comes from (like Genghis Khan?!!).

I have 1 on my back, I know it's there but it's very light so not noticeable.

I think mw and other HCP know the difference between this spot and child abuse.

I had one. It disappeared at some point.

Why would it be a problem?

I've no experience, but some moving related stories here.

Btw I don't have any known Asian, African, eastern European or middle eastern descent.

My Mum has always taken it to back up the theory that my dad has Romany ancestry.

My daughter has it across her shoulders, above the crease of her bum and on her hands and ankles. Because she is black it isn't very noticeable, it just looks like a darker patch. She is now 7 months and it is still the same. It was more noticeable at birth simply because she was lighter.

It was written in the red book although they only mentioned the spots accross her back and not the rest of them.

I've only ever seen one that's not already been recorded in the red book by the examining paediatrician and I wrote in the book probably MBS (both parents Asian)
I've never once heard of referring for it

DD2 was born with one, base of spine, classic MBS.

I am very thankful that XH trusts me. We both have blue eyes, both DDs have brown eyes. I told one HV to get lost and not come back, after she insisted that neither DD could be our children, as blue eyed parents can't have brown eyed children, and only people of Indian descent could have MBS. Neither is true, but she was a pretty ignorant old trout anyway.

My ds2 had one. I knew what it was as soon as I saw it, but was completely terrified, as I grew up in care and have a pathological hatred of 'the authorities'. I took great care never to tell anyone and prayed it would fade, which it did. We're caucasian, so it wasn't very dark to begin with, but ds is very pale with red hair and it looked just like a bruise

I feel sorry for any parent who's child has one and ends up referred to hospital. That's just horrible for parents to have to deal with.

Both my sons had it. Faded away by about 5 years old.

I can't remember which doctor or hv told me what it was.

I don't think it was recorded anywhere.

I am of Iraqi Jewish origin. So I guess it comes from me.

Thank you all.

Your stories are really reassuring tbh.

I have seen a case recently where a young Caucasian with a MR baby was quizzed about it causing her distress; the father wasn't about and the white family hadn't heard of it.

I feel uncomfortable sending a family into hospital to diagnose it when I can easily spot it. It feels like institutionalised racism tbh.

We document it like crazy because it would be terrible if it was flagged as a bruise. And ime it doesn't always present at birth.

Eldest son had a substantial mark across his lower back and most of his buttocks; some parts were darker than others.

It was noted in his red book and our GP was informed. Even though it was in the red book some HVs would ask what had 'happened to him'. I was very glad to be able to show them the notation in the book as they seemed pretty clueless

It did bother me when I used to take him swimming as a baby because people would do a double-take thinking it was a bruise. By the time he was 5 or 6 it had completely faded.

Stratters we often ask if there is non-white heritage.

I'm trying to figure out how best to approach this with families.

Is it necessary to refer to hospital? Why not just the child's GP or health visitor? Most parents do not find MBS offensive but you could always just call it a birth mark. Our ds had his recorded in his Red book by HV so it might be worth checking that before you refer parents to hospital, they may not have noticed if not flagged up previously. Ours has been noted by other clinicians who have had contact with ds, sometimes pointed out to student doctors who may not have seen one before. However, most who are medically trained are aware of what it is, it's very common, we flagged it up to his nursery but even they were nonplussed by it.

ragged thank you for the link. :)

Many people aren't even aware that it can occur in caucasions. I felt very much at risk because ds is milkbottle white. He does have a slight epicanthic fold though, so there's some asian blood in there somewhere.

Both my DD's have them on their bottoms, HV told me what they were, tbh not given it a second thought. I have never even considered that they could be mis diagnosed as bruises.

Is that what dds 'bruise' was? She had a bruise until well into toddlerhood at the base of her spine. We were puzzled, but it didn't bother her at all so we just thought it was her car seat or something!

I didn't mind being asked at all. It was her insistence, in front of 4yo DD1, that DD2 couldn't be 'our' child; basically she was accusing me of lying about the father.

I suppose I should be grateful it was in her red book, otherwise she probably would have had me down as a child abusing serial shagger

I was informed that dd2 had one when she was born but it faded so quickly I'm beginning to think it actually was a a bruise! Nobody asked about our ethnic origin. We are both very pale, but dp remind he's got an Indian ancestor somewhere on his mothers side. Dd is only 4 months old and I can't see it anymore. I had never heard of it before.

Where I work we note them at babies first medical check 6 hrs after birth and record them in the 'red book'. parents are told why its being recorded. i.e it looks like a bruise.
iv never come across a parent thats been offended atall

Ds1 had one on his lower back/bum. It was written in his red book at his first checkup. Dh is Asian. Aged almost 3 now, it has nearly faded.

I am oriental. Both my children had them. They faded away before 6 months. They are blueish in co,our, and do not have the reddish or greenish hues of a bruise.

That's what's silly, gstring. I can spot it. But I'm not a dr. Our pathway involves a paed review.

I don't see why parents need to go to the hospital, often miles out of their way, to get it diagnosed. White parents don't have to jump through hoops to prove their child isn't abused.

I might be overly sensitive.