Club foot in newborn

[mandyosb67]

Hi my daughter is pregnant with her 3rd child and has just had her 20 week scan. She has been told that the baby's left foot is turned is slightly and may have a club foot. Whilst knowing this is not anything terrible she is upset and is now awaiting an appointment with a foetal specialist. Any advice would be grateful on if anyone has been told this and if so coils the scan be incorrect and if not how easy is it to correct?

There are two types of tallipes - positional, where the foot is twisted due to the babies position in the womb, and then tallipes due to a genetic difference. I had the latter - it was operated on in the late 70s and the tendon at the back of the leg was lengthened. I had dance classes for years to help straighten my foot. You couldn't really tell by the time I was about 7 or 8.

Thank you for your response, she hasn't been told anything definite, only that it has talipes. Hopefully she will find out a bit more when she goes to see the specialist.

I know my tallipes is genetic as my dad had it too, but my children haven't inherited it. Positional tallipes is easiest to correct I think, but even mine wasn't a big problem. I can never remember being told I couldn't do something because of it. I had an operation at Great Ormond Street which I don't remember at all, and then dance lessons to strengthen the foot and leg muscles. My calf is slightly smaller on one side, but not once has anyone ever commented on that (I think only I notice it!) and it doesn't look weird in tights or anything! I was in my twenties before I spotted it, for example!

Thank you so much for the information, that's very reassuring x

Hey

My nephew is 12 now, and he was born with tallipes in both feet. My sister wasn’t aware. This was due to his position in the womb.

A couple of weeks after he was born they clipped the back of his ankle to make his heel drop and then he was in pots for a while. Going back every 2 weeks to adjust his feet into the correct position.

He then went onto have what we called Boots and Bars. No idea if this is the correct term!

Sadly, he has had a really bad case of this (which is uncommon) and still has issues now. I can go into more details, but don’t want to worry you.

However, not all is lost!! He’s a bright boy and loves wheelchair basketball (after lockdown he will practising for under 14’s for England)!

Stay positive! Baby will be perfect in every way 💕

My dd had bilateral talipes.. Both feet met together like hands together...
He had weekly cast changes from 1 week - 4 weeks. Then special boots with a bar between for 23 hours every single day for 10 months. Then down to 14 hours every day until he was 4.. Was supposed to be 5 but his treatment worked faster than expected.. What advice has your dd been given about treatment?

Wanted to add, ds is 12 and no indication whatsoever he ever had issues. Is an amazing football player and bike rider...

Thank you, she hasn't been given any advice as yet but she will be seeing a specialist within the next couple of weeks, hopefully she will find out a bit more then x

My DS was born with bilateral talipes in one foot which wasn't picked up in the scan. With hindsight, I'm glad I didn't know before he was born as I'd have had months worrying about it unnesesarily.
He was in plaster for 12 weeks and then had the boots & bars all day for about 6 months and then only at night for 4 years. He's now absolutely fine, he just has one foot slightly shorter and wider than the other. It doesn't cause him a second thought and he plays quite a lot of sport.
It is quite common and usually easy to rectify.

Thank you Hadd9 for the information. Im sorry that the talipes have affected his life in this way and wish him all the best for the future x

Themsmedapps thank you for your comment. I wished they hadn't told my daughter as she will now only worry for the next 20 weeks of her pregnancy. She is thinking the worst case scenario! X

I cried when they put his first cast on. He didn't!! Dc are very durable and accepting.. What helped in a physical sense was finding socks without any seams. Quite a task! No seams allowed with the boots and bars. Helping on a practical level brings some comfort! And clothes with poppers underneath. Bar has to stay on for nappy changes! Quite a challenge! Feel free to ask any questions when your dd knows more.

At the other end of the scale from some of these experiences - DD had positional talipes in both feet.

I thought it looked really bad when she was newborn, but I was given excercises to do with her feet a few times a day and it was pretty much gone by 6 months. At 14 months she's now running around like a little athlete.

Hi, my daughter is similar to the poster above, I just had to massage her feet a few times a day and it was all fine, she’s 5 now and apart from her little toes cross over the next one you would never know 😊

My son was diagnosed with positional talipes at birth. As the posters above said, we were given exercises to do to realign the bones in the feet. Because of Covid we've not seen a health visitor or GP since 8 weeks of age so no idea if they're completely fixed but they look fine and the GP wasn't concerned at the 8 week check.