Is this severe plagiocephaly?

[Capricorn8990]

Heya all, my baby was born using forceps and had a bulge on the left side of her head. She favours sleeping on her right hand side and I've noticed a flat spot that's formed and her head is bulgier on the right. Does this look severe to you? Has anyone tried a helmet for their babies? Ive been repositioning her whilst she sleeps, more tummy time and sitting up right on us.

She's almost 4 months old. I have a doctors app next week.

I've measured her head circumference and it's in the 50th centile.

i feel like I’ve let her down.

Thanks in advance.

This is asymmetrical brachycephaly. You absolutely have not let her down, it was NOT your fault. It's not "severe" (I dislike this term as it is emotionally loaded) but that's not to say its not concerning for you. It is purely cosmetic though.

If you are on Facebook, you could join the Noggin Doctors Plagiocephaly and Torticollis Discussion Board. It's run by a paediatric Craniofacial surgeon with over 20 years experience with torticollis and Plagiocephaly. You can post pictures there and he will answer your questions and you can talk to other mums who have, or haven't helmeted.

It will get corrected in time and I'm sure there is no need for any helmet. Pls stop googling and over thinking

In time it will blend in with the wide variation of head shapes in the population, yes. On average, cranial index (width to length ratio) improves by 4% with natural growth, so it may grow out to be within the normal range, but there are no guarantees, and "it will look OK by the time she is a grown up" is difficult to hear when the look of it TODAY consumes you (I do not know if that is how the OP feels, I am summarising from my own and others experiences).
If you look, you will notice people (men are easiest to spot) with flat heads everywhere - it's very common, and does persist into adulthood. However, it goes completely unremarked upon, as most people do not notice.

In my experience (talking to over 9000 parents of babies with flat heads, for research purposes), parents are happiest when they are fully informed. I agree that Google can be a dangerous thing and I know there is a lot of misinformation and scaremongering out there when it comes to head flattening. I have found that dismissing concerns entirely is not usually helpful.

Hi my baby is 6 months now and had strong side preference. She developed positional plagiocephaly. I feel guilty now that I didn't pay attention before. Do I need helmet now?

It's up to you. Is she 6 months actual or corrected? (Were they early?) It is purely cosmetic and in time, when she is grown up, it will not be noticeable because we do not look down onto the heads of other adults. You need patience though - it wont self correct, it is a case of waiting for her to grow in height and size. There are no medical or functional consequences to not correcting it. If you don't like it, you can intervene, which is likely a helmet as I am assuming she can roll back to belly? Helmets are expensive though (close to £3k).

Also, did she have Physiotherapy?

She was born a month early. She can roll back and even sleeps on her tummy. But I am worried will it be corrected on its own or I should do something except helmet

@Mommaoftwins
A helmet is the only way you can actively change the shape. Nothing else will have any effect now.

No, it will not round out on its own, BUT it will also not be visible when she is grown up. 12% of adults have uncorrected plagiocephaly and I will bet you have never seen another adult and thought, oh look, they have a wonky head.
This might help:
https://www.thenoggindoctor.com/blog/2021/1/30/perspective-is-everythingeven-with-plagiocephaly