Clubbed Feet

[Beckysimpkin]

i just found out on my 20 week scan that my baby will be born with clubbed feet. I’m so worried and scared. Has any other mums been told this before and do you know if it guess worse as the pregnancy goes on. 🥺

Hi OP. My youngest was born with talipes. This was not picked up on any scans. I was quite worried but reassessed that these resolve themselves within weeks of birth.

We had a few appointments with a physio and we’re told to do gentle exercises like tickling the foot to get the outward movement going.

It all worked and you couldn’t really tell after a few weeks that talipes were ever an issue. The baby is now three and totally fine 😬

My dd had bilateral talipes that was picked up on during the 20 week scan.
It was quite severe so she had her first operation when she was 4 weeks old. Then both her legs were in plaster from the top of her thigh to her toes (changed every week at the hospital) but my dd was a bugger and somehow managed to kick them off (one week she kicked them off 3 times) so she needed a second operation and they put her in a hip spica for 10 weeks (she was 6 months old by this point) After the hip spica dd had to wear Dennis brown boots for 23 hours a day which was reduced over time. Dd is now 17 and has tiny feet that are wide with a very high instep with no defined ankles. She has never been able to wear pretty sandals or winter boots but it doesn’t bother her because her and her mates seem to live in trainers!
It is still difficult to get her shoes sometimes - we have to go up about 3 shoe sizes to find school shoes that fit.
I received counselling from the hospital when we found out and had regular scans.
Are you getting support? It can feel very scary.

My daughter had talipes that wasn’t picked up on the scans. Her foot literally bent backwards touching the shin. We were told to massage it and keep an eye. She’s never needed operations or the boots and bars .

Make sure you have follow up scans as baby develops.

On its own talipes can be managed and have minimal impact.

However, I don’t want to worry you but it’s possible clubfeet are linked to another condition that isn’t visible yet, hence the importance of further scans.

That’s the less likely scenario though so hopefully everything is ok.

Yes my 7 year old has bilateral talipes (both feet) it is a bloody huge shock, but you will just deal with it, I promise you that.

My son has one complex club foot that means he will likely need treatment throughout his life and at times it's hard but overall I'm pretty amazed by how quickly it just became normal for us.

All the firsts are a shock, first casting, first feeds, baths, nights in casts, first ops, first nights after ops, then the boots n bars. Remember your baby will have nothing to compare to so will just accept it as normal.

There are tons of support groups, get on FB today and seek them out, you'll find lots of other expectant parents as well as those with older kids, teens and adults.

Remember to breathe, cry if you want to but keep looking after yourself. Eat, sleep, rest and try not to get overwhelmed by it.

Not me but a friend of mine I met travelling was born with clubfeet. She had to have operations as a baby and wear the bar and board thing as a young child but by 3 was walking etc normally. She is very active, runner, paddle boarder etc. There is literally nothing to show for it other than tiny scars on her ankle. I never knew until we were 28 when oddly our other friend had a baby with the same club foot as her. He followed the same pattern of operations, casts, board 23 hours a day and reduced etc. And by 3 he was totally 'normal' whatever normal is.

Thank you so much for all the messages it’s really reassuring. All my tests came back as low probability or no risk with downs and other chromosomal things. Just heart breaking as anyone would want the best start in life for there baby. I was just worried it will get worse as it’s still growing. But thanks guys xxx

I’m terrified to go to any more scans and I have one on my birthday. My first scan showed a high Nuchal Fold and that terrified me as I didn’t understand but we have the test and baby came back with low risk to downs or any other of the factors. But then came my 20 week scan and found out baby has bilateral talipes and of course I broke down again thinking why is nothing going right in this pregnancy. I understand it could be completely worse I do, but I just got over covid as well and it just hasn’t been plain sailing. That’s why I’m terrified that my next scan at 28 weeks will have a bad outcome. They said everything else is growing perfectly and she’s doing fine apart from obviously her feet which can be corrected after birth. I just feel so alone and like it’s all my fault and I don’t want to go to the next scan in case anything comes up. I just feel sick and anxious all the time. I don’t want to lose her 🙁