A mother always knows and flat heads are gorgeous

[Mere]

Hello there-my son was born prematurely-throughout my pregnancy i felt as though he was stuck and I was sitting on him- i always had quite a few false labours and so at my insistence the antenatal staff at the hospital started to regulary monitor his heart-at every appointment the babys heart would drop off- I was convinced that there was something very wrong-but no doctor or mid wife would take me seriously-on the day that he was born i went to hospital three times and was rudely told to go away and that perhaps i had wet myself and that my waters had not broken-on my last visit i refused to go and thank goodness a kind midwife examined and shocked told me baby was coming-labour lasted all of an hour when she worriedly told me that baby's heart rate kept dropping off and she called a consultant who straight away ordered an emergency C-section. Baby was born-he was beautiful but had the longest head-no one thought it was anything serious-so brought him home-slept him on his back-every few weeks i would tell doctors and health visitors i was worried about his head-they poo pooed me-at 5 months baby's head was severly flat at the back-i saved up went to a private craniofacial doctor-baby had positional plagiocephaly-head shape was bracheycephaly, flat at back, wide at sides and tall at the top-was devestated but doctor assured me baby would be ok it would improve would not be perfect but would get better-most important was that he was otherwise normal-he said if i was still not happy in a few months we could consider a special moulding helmet-then one day looking at photos from my wedding i noticed that my older brothers head was exactly the same as my sons-my brother is 34-and in an adult his head did not look odd at all-so when people say that the head will improve I reckon sometimes it is true-even more interestingly I found out-coming from Ghana west africa that there childrens head are thought to be incredibley beautiful if they are flat-in fact it is a sign that you could one day become a great king or a queen and so parents deliberately try and flatten heads.....also the cranio doctor said in the future there weill probably be as many children with flat heads as without

My paed appt is on Thursday - got lots of other things to talk to him about as well.

Anyways, I'm beginning to think that my daughter's head is getting better on its own (esp as she is walking now), though it will never be perfectly symmetrical.

Is anyone else a wee bit suspicious that the helmets are being pushed (by their manufacturers)for use on non-serious plagio cases. I can understand that if there was severe facial asymmetry a helmet would be beneficial but for most milder cases, like my daughter's, I'm beginning to think that it's not necessary. If I really look at most babies' heads closely, most have slightly funny shapes that seem to even out over a few years. I suspect none of our heads is symmetrical either!

I don't think the helmet manufacturers in the UK are pushing the helmets at all.

There are three suppliers and I am sure that none of them would recommend a helmet unless they thought it would significantly improve the head shape.

I run a plagiocephaly support group ( groups.msn.com/PlagioUK ) so I have spoken directly with all of the companies/orthotists involved in fitting helmets in this country.

Besides, having a helmet fitted is a costly process. So no-one would probably consult a private specialist unless they were concerned enough to think that they wanted some greater improvement.

In mild cases, and at an early age, repositioning techniques undoubtedly help in rounding out the head, but over about 7 months of age, the changes in head shape are minimal, so with a more severe case, you are not going to get much rounding after about 7 months without the use of a helmet.

Claire

Sorry - didn't realise I had already posted about the MSN group - looks like I'm doing a big self-promotion job - didn't mean to be keeping on about it .

As an aside, ajmum, all the suppliers will give you a free initial consultation and will measure the head and let you know what the severity is. There is no obligation with any of them to go ahead. They are all really nice people and despite running commercial operations, definitely have the best interests of the children at heart.

Claire

Forgive me, but there are photos posted on your site of kids with nothing wrong with their heads! Nothing! Some look similar to my daughter in the asymmetry, but most look 'normal'. The only shots where any of these kids look 'different' is the classic top of head shot. From the front and side, they all look beautiful, symmetrical and 'normal'. Am I missing something? Yes, I would love it if my daughter's head was a bit more 'normal' but I'd also love her to have not inherited my nose. Where does this search for physical perfection end?

Sorry got your follow-up message later. I'm sure that if I went to a helmet manufacturer they would diagnose severe plagio with their measurements, but it's NOT severe. I know there is no obligation to proceed but they would no doubt try to convince us that our daughter's future was at stake. Total and unnecessary guilt trip.

Severe plagio should mean that her face was misaligned and that she was immmediately, obviously 'deformed'. She looks 'normal'. I only notice her head because I look for it. Anyways I see the paed today and I'm sure he will once again diagnose a mild/moderate case that needs no follow-up. Let's be honest - if he thought she needed referral he would. By the way, the reason we saw the paed re her head was because her four-month-old cousin died of a brain tumour in Oct and they just wanted to double-check that she didn't have one too. Now that's something to worry about and not some mild cosmetic concern.

It seems to me as if you have made your decision already and that you really don't want to put her in a helmet. In which case, don't!

There is no obligation. If you think she looks fine, then she will grow up thinking the same. And if no-one else can see anything wrong, then that will always be the case. At the end of the day (hate that phrase!!) it is your decision. Don't beat yourself up about it.

Just one thing to try though - look at her in a mirror. Lots of plagio parents can see a completely different child in the mirror. Yes, we are all slightly asymmetrical - if we weren't we would all be models - but if she looks significantly different in the mirror, then the plagio may be affecting her facial symmetry too.

Claire

Bump