Help for babies with ‘flat head’

2nd March 2005

A new not-for-profit organisation, Headstart, has been
launched to help babies with a condition known as plagiocephaly, a flattened
area at the back of the head.

Plagiocephaly is on the increase partly due to the ‘back
to sleep’ campaign which encourages parents to put their babies to sleep
on their backs.

Whilst the campaign has dramatically reduced the number
of cot deaths, it has inadvertently increased the number of children
suffering from misshapen heads.

Now Headstart has launched a website to spread the word
about plagiocephaly to other parents and make them aware that helmet
therapy is available to treat the condition.

Babies with plagiocephaly can be treated with a non-invasive
helmet which is worn for 23 hours a day for up to six months.

Treatment should ideally start within the first 12 months
of the baby’s life – the earlier the better – to take advantage of the
period when the skull is still changing shape and growing quickly.

Each helmet is specifically tailored to the contours of
the baby’s head and channels growth to the areas which need to ’round
out’.

The founders of Headstart, Philip Saich and Karen Laker
noticed that their baby son Ben was developing an odd head shape when
he was just three months and, despite being reassured by their GP that
this was quite normal and that it would rectify itself as Ben’s head
grew, remained concerned.

They discovered helmet therapy by chance but after four
and a half months’ of treatment their son’s head misalignment will be
100 per cent corrected.

Helmet therapy is commonplace in the USA but their are
only two specialists treating plagiocephaly in the UK.

Most NHS paediatricians are dubious about the need to
use helmets – the conventional medical view is that it doesn’t much
matter if a baby’s head is slightly misshapen, as hair will cover up
the problem and there are no long-term medical implications.

Orthotist Stephen Mottram, who works for the US company
Medistox, is one of the specialists treating plagiocephaly in the UK.

He says, “Where a baby seems to be developing plagiocephaly,
my first suggestion would be to move the baby so he isn’t always sleeping
with his head to the same side.”

If these measures do not help, further advice for concerned
parents is limited due to many NHS professionals dismissing plagiocephaly
as a cosmetic condition.

However, Dr Mottram says that the condition could cause
dental and jaw problems, increased migraines, and psychological problems
associated with bullying at school.

He says, “Doctors in the UK say there isn’t enough published
evidence that the helmets work or that the treatment is necessary.

“But our results suggest that the helmets can make a huge
difference – provided they’re available at the right time in the baby’s
life.”

The treatment is unavailable on the NHS and costs between
£1,200 and £1,500 plus VAT. The Saiches are disappointed that the NHS
doesn’t offer more to parents concerned about their babies’ head shape.

Headstart aims to offer help and advice to parents who
are concerned and hope in the longer-term goal to be able to offer subsidised
helmets to parents of babies with the condition.

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