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Children's health

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Original poster

Does anybody elses child have a facial birthmark? ...

24 replies

DisenchantedPlusBump · 31/12/2008 19:44

DD is a week old today She is absolutly gorgeous and has settled in amazingly

When she was born she had a mark on her face, we assumed it was bruising from the birth but as the week has passed we are 99% sure its a birth mark.

Ive not been given any information from the midwives at all. Are there different kinds? Can they fade? Can they go darker?

Sometimes you can harly see it at all (when shes calm / asleep) vbut if she gets upset it goes almost purple.

Its also something to take in, i mean it doesnt bother me in the slightest but i am worried in case SHE is concious of it in school etc ... i cant talk to DH abbout it because she is already his princess and he is VERY defensive about it, even with me

We have already had a few comments that have made me really sad and its not even that noticable most of the time, well i think.

OP posts:

Original poster

DisenchantedPlusBump · 31/12/2008 19:45

sorry for typing, DD is on knee

OP posts:

MarlaSinger · 31/12/2008 19:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BCNS · 31/12/2008 19:51

DD has one on her cheek/jaw line.. it's quite big and looks like a kiss.. we call it her angel kiss
dd likes her angel kiss and has no problems at school at all..

DD is 5 btw. and wee too thought it looked like a bruise when she was a new born.. it hasn't got any darker.. nor has it faded.

I am assuming that when she is older if she wishes to cover it up.. she'll be able to even it out with a little foundation.
But I'd rather she grew up liking it and accepting it's special to her.

Original poster

DisenchantedPlusBump · 31/12/2008 19:56

hers covers her cheek, and is under her eye and its pink ...

here it is, its usually no where near that red though

its usually like this

OP posts:

zanz1bar · 31/12/2008 19:59

hi my dd now 5 has what is called a strawberry nevous(spelling?) on her cheeck.
she was born with no marks and it slowly appeared over two/three weeks till it was a very strong purple red colour. several other babies in my extended family have had this as well some with a raised bump and they ALL have faded over the years. Now its just like a shadow with a hint of a vein line and i really have to look for it.

It is worth getting a hv or gp to check it out just in case esp if the mark is close to the eye area.

used to call it her beauty spot, just on her cheek like marilyn monroe and i really think it did make her more beautiful.

DaisyMooSteiner · 31/12/2008 20:02

Whereabouts is the mark?

It sounds as though it might be a kind of haemangioma which is basically an overgrowth of blood vessels under the skin. Babies are often born with small ones between their eyes and at the base of their hairline at the back of the head. Other names for them are stork bites or strawberry marks. Occasionally they can extend deeper under the skin and look like a reddish-purple lump. They can keep growing for a number of months before gradually getting smaller. If you notice that it's starting to grow significantly then it's probably worth getting your GP to check it out.

My dd had a cavernous haemangioma just above her eye which grew rapidly and has permanenently damaged her eyesight It got really very big and was bright red/purple. However it has never caused her a moment's anxiety or upset and at age 5 it is now almost invisible. Apparently they almost always clear up completely within 5 years.

BCNS · 31/12/2008 20:04

I'd mention it to the HV/ midwife to put your mind at rest... It wouldn't suprise me at all if it's one that will fade. tbh

Btw she is soooo squishy... I want one!!!!! ( or just sniff her head and tell me how wonderful she smells!!)

MarlaSinger · 31/12/2008 20:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

lizandlulu · 31/12/2008 20:05

disenchanted, i looked at the photos and had to move the lap top closer to see any makrs! i honsetly cannot see anything other than a beautiful baby.

my dd had what i think is called a stork mark, from her forehead down her nose and around the side of the nose, which got really red when she cried, but she is not 3,2 and is only noticable to me if she is having a cry.

get it checked out if it will put your mind at rest, you have a beautiful baby

marymagdalene · 31/12/2008 20:14

liz mine had a stork mark too and like yours it still comes up but when she is really cross!

Original poster

DisenchantedPlusBump · 31/12/2008 20:19

Thanks for the reassurance

Its faded alot already i think, that 1st pic was at 24 hrs old and its nowhere near that dark now.

she is beautiful lizandlulu, shes just so perfect i could cry1 lol

shes so well be haved too, slept from midnight to 4am had a bottle then slept till 9am last night!! :

Shes a little peach!

OP posts:

lizandlulu · 31/12/2008 20:20

well i hope she stays good for you

Lizzylou · 31/12/2008 20:23

My DB has a Port wine stain on one half of his face, he had some laser treatment on it in his teens and now it is very faint. Strangely in his year at school there was another boy and a girl all with similar port wine stains (and no-one had one in the rest of the school, so it was no big deal tbh).

My friend's DD had a Strawberry mark on her forehead, it was quite prominent and very red and raised, it has almost completely disappeared now.

I think you need to speak with your MW/GP. A lot of marks just fade with time. But am that people comment, it's very rude and not necessary.

hkz · 31/12/2008 20:24

Hi disenchanted, my dd (now 20 months) has a birthmark on the right side of her upper lip that appeared about three weeks after she was born and grew. Its a strawberry nevus and was initially quite red and raised, but since she was about 9 months it has started fading.
It causes her no pain and she is completey unaware of it. We got referred to Gt Ormand St to see a specialist there ( I guess cos we are based i London) and she was very reassuring and said it would most likely fade away by the time she is 5-10 years.
As all the other posters say, see your GP and maybe get a referral just for your reassurance.
I never even notice my DP's.
Quite often people come up to me and say my DC/I had a birthmark like this and it's disappeared completely!
Your dd is gorgeous btw

Piffle · 31/12/2008 20:38

ds2 (on my profile) has a stork mark over is right eye... its less now than it was (he is now 21mths)
I forget it is there, and being the lad he is, he has more famous bruises all over his head from diving onto hard things
your dd is scrummy Disenchanted.

believer07 · 01/01/2009 10:25

She is wonderful, try to relax and enjoy this time, you only get it once.

JentlyDoesIt · 01/01/2009 10:36

Hi,

DS has a small strawberry mark on his right cheek - it has really shrunk over time, it now looks like a tiny spot. I had a few comments on it when he was tiny but stern looks from me soon made them stop!

DD has a stork mark between her eyes which has faded over time as well (she is now 8 months) and only really appears when she is cross!

Your DD is scrummy, chat to your HV or midwife about it if you are concerned.

Sunshine78 · 01/01/2009 10:36

My ds 4.5 has a strawberry mark on his forehead - was gorrified when it first appeared at 6 weeks but as he's grown it didn't. It was bright red at first but now is nearly white and gone. I got a lot of comments I got asked alot how he had hurt himself - you just learn to blank it. I have pictures of my ds round the house when it was really noticeable and I dont even notice it.

alirobins · 01/01/2009 11:10

Ds 4 has a mark like that in the same place normally you can't even see it but if he's hot been crying or ill then it stands out clearly.
He was referred to a dermatologist for another reason and I showed her a picture and she said it was an abnormal vascular sructure under the skin. She has referred him for an MRI scan just to make sure thats what it is.
We still waiting for a date so unsure what will happen after that.
Your Dd is beautiful Congratulations.

pralinegirl · 01/01/2009 15:52

Our son is now 5 and has a cafe au lait mark on his chin and under it. It was large when he was born and extended from the neck to the chin, an unbroken brown mark, without raised skin. I was, I am ashamed to say, devasted. The GP had no information at all. I think from my research into them your baby's will fade as its very different from his but am posting this because it may help others too. I phoned the Birthmark Support Society and they were terrific, kind and expert. They advised me to push for a referral to a specialist at local hospital and he was fantastic. He sent a photo of it to a specialist centre in Birmingham and lady doctor there said she thought laser therapy might well help. DS has had 4-5 treatments, all under a general and although it will never completely go its now much lighter and parts of it are gone. Many birthmarks will fade often completely but don't trust a non-specialist, we were told his would fade a bit and the experts said it never would have. I have to say if it hadn't been large and on his facial area I wouldn't have gone ahead with treatment, every one since he's been about 3 has been really hard because he's more scared now and its jolly painful.

I'm not sorry we went ahead. As he got older and went to school am sure he would have been teased. That being said we had to deal with other people's remarks until recently. One insensitive health visitor said he could always grow a beard when older! Other kids would innocently tell him to wipe the chocolate from his face! But all of this was hurtful for me, he was oblivious! He isn't now though and happily spends time looking at it in the mirror and saying how its much better.

If you're ever anyone in this position and decide you want it investigated be prepared to push and push, because GPs in a way rightly won't see it as a health issue. Then you have to push for treatment, our PCT paid for a trial of laser, which worked, and then wanted him sent somewhere else, without the expertise, because it was cheaper. Our consultant at Bedford Dr Monk is fantastic and fought them tooth and nail!

Sorry for rabbiting on but hope this may help someone. I had no-one to discuss it with and you're very vulnerable after giving birth.

Lizzylou · 01/01/2009 15:59

Pralinegirl, well done for getting the laser treatment whilst your DS is young, my brother was in his teens when he finally got the go ahead for laser treatment and he didn't go through with it because of the blackness afterwards (looked like round black marker pen circles on his face), he was too self conscious.

findtheriver · 01/01/2009 16:05

One of mine had a similar mark. It was visible for the first few years (but fading gradually all the time) and after that only showed when she got angry or upset!

It is TOTALLY invisible now she's in her teens.

findtheriver · 01/01/2009 16:08

And I would echo what praline said - if there are any comments when your dc is small, it will bother you but won't bother them. Honest. And any comments are made out of just not realising what it is - eg a kindly old dear asked my dd when she was about 3 if she'd fallen over and bumped her poor head! DD said to me afterwards 'Have I got a mark on my head mummy?'. I have to admit that made me cry (but dd was totally unfazed!)

pralinegirl · 01/01/2009 16:35

Would also add that some horrible events in our family over the last few years have changed my perspective too. Even if he had never had the treatment, our son was and is beautiful and I regret the time I spent looking at the mark, worrying about it, when I could have been enjoying him as a baby! But I suppose had I been less worried I might not have pushed enough. In the end its been better I think for him.

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