Anyone have any experience of a baby/child born with half an arm missing?

[iwasyoungonce]

My friend has just found out at her 20w scan that her baby's left arm ends just below the elbow.

She is upset obviously, and has been thinking about what difficulties her child will face. Does anyone have any experience of this?

No experience sorry but I can't help thinking about the young woman on CBeebies who also was born with half an arm, She did an interview somewhere which was really positive. If I think where it was will post again.

I am sure your friend is very upset and that it is a shock. Try posting on the disability section for advice.

I knew someone at university who was born with only a tiny bit of arm and finger buds below her right elbow. It didn't stop her doing anything in life - driving included

My 12 year old cousin was born with half an arm just above his elbow. He was fitted with a prosthetic but he hated it and it ended up in the toy box. it hasn't held him back at all. He is on the school tennis team and is great at it.

A teacher at DD2s school has half an arm. She drives a Mercedes convertible, has just had a baby and is gorgeous. It doesn't seem to have held her back at all.

I also know a 5 year old boy whose arm ends below the elbow; he is in mainstream school, doing fine and writing, riding a bike, playing football and generally just being a normal healthy little boy

Thanks for these messages. Very supportive - I will share this all with my friend.

I will look for that interview with Kerry from CBeebies too, thanks fifitot.

I have come across an amazing artist called Hepzibah who has two very shortened arms and dysfunctional hands. It has not stopped her from doing anything, so far as I can see, a very cool woman with immense talent.

Some interviews with Cerrie

here (Daily Mail)
here (Guardian)
here (YouTube of BBC Breakfast interview)

One of my cousins arm's ends at the elbow and so far it hasn't had a huge impact on her life. She's 6 now, at mainstream school etc.

She lives in Thailand and it's actually considered to be quite lucky.

Hi there is a girl in my ds1 year and it doesn't seem to stop her doing anything..she seems to have lots of friends, rides a scooter to school ect

Little girl at dd3s nursery has hand missing.Does not hold her back at all.

Thanks for these positive experiences. Thanks for those links Professor, I shall have a read.

I had a friend at primary school with one arm which ended at the elbow. Didn't stop her doing most things. She sometimes had a prosthetic she could attach with various grip functions if she pressed a button, but most of the time she found it easier without it on. She took the 11+ and got into a really good private school and last I heard things were going really well for her.

My great aunt was born with one hand, the other was not formed, just a stump.

It didn't hold her back at all, in fact she did more than a lot of women of her generation. She was a great knitter and fantastic with a sewing machine too despite her disability (she made my mum's wedding dress!) - she was also deputy manager of a department in a pensions company (would have been manager but you couldn't have a woman in charge in those days).

My DC went to school with a boy with an arm which ended at the elbow. He had a prosthetic but chose not to wear it much. The other kids paid no attention, didn't treat him differently and he was fine. A shock for yur friend but not one in our experience that held the child back.

One of my best friends has a twin (both girls) who was born with her right arm ending at the elbow.

She's a really confident, bubbly girl doing art history at university. She's constantly going on dates etc and doesn't seem to let if affect her quality of life. She writes with her left hand and has a realistic looking prosthetic that she uses to hold things down/grip basic shapes.

Honestly, if you didn't know which of them had the prosthetic you would nbever guess it from their personalities. I'm sure that at some points it does affect her, but she has a wonderful life and is a great person.

My DH has this. he leads a normal life, doesn't have a prosthesis and it has never stopped him doing anything. Her baby will be fine, the advantage of present day scanning is she will be aware of it before the birth so no surprises.

I know someone with both arms missing ..she leads a pretty normal life,has 2 children

I know someone with a lower arm missing - she was head girl at a stableyard looking after brood mares and stallions - quite a handful for anyone if you'll padon the pun!

So no... it won't hold the child back - they'll know no different and won't even notice in the first few years of life.

Slightly different but echoing what MaamRuby said, a friend had a baby which at 20 week scan they had been told would be disabled as her leg stopped just below her knee. When she was born, it was nothing like as much of a problem as they had thought, leg had grown some more, foot was a little deformed and kind of 'folded up'; against the front of the leg. Little girl has had a leg brace and is now three years old and leg and foot have 'grown out' to be almost normal, she just needs a slightly raised instep on one shoe but otherwise all completely fine.

So I think there are two positives to look at here: 1) the problem may not end up (at birth and in early development) being as bad as they think from the scan, and 2) even if it is, there are lots of positive stories here about how people live full and happy lives with this kind of thing.

D

A good friend's sister (now in her late 20s) was born with an arm missing. In those days there was no routine ultrasound scanning, so her parents found out only when she was born - it was a bit of a shock, but they were told it was just one of those things that sometimes happens. My friend said that this group do very good work in helping parents - and kids - realise that actually this is surprisingly common, and that it's perfectly possible to lead a brilliant life with a limb or part of a limb missing. Hope your friend finds this helpful.
www.reach.org.uk/ReachCMS/Page/41/Page.aspx