Born with a flat head

Laura Jones meets Matilda who is getting treatment for flat head syndrome

When Kate Fisher's daughter was born she noticed she had a mis-shapen head - something doctors thought she would grow out of. When her daughter's condition showed no signs of improvement Kate thought it was time she took some more advice on the matter.

Your News went to meet them at their home near Dewsbury.

Matilda and her twin brother Harry are now 17 months old. Like all children their age they are fascinated by everything.

Unlike many though Matilda must wear a special helmet called a Starband.

It is to help correct the shape of her head. Matilda has a form of plagiocephaly also known as flat head syndrome.

In Matilda's case she developed the syndrome because she spent a long time in the birthing canal.

It means that Matilda's head is wider than it is long. An estimated one in 30 babies are affacted by forms of the condition.

Some like Matilda are born with it but many develop it afterwards. They usually grow out of it by about a year old. Matilda didn't.

Matilda's head is wider than it is long

So if nothing had been done to correct it then she would have difficulty later in life. It would have meant that things many take for granted like wearing a bike helmet or glasses would have been impossible.

That is why Kate got in touch with Sandie Waddell. She has seen more than a 1,000 babies with this condition.

She has used her experience to develop a special helmet to help mould the head back into shape. Much to the relief of Kate, Matlida has adapted well to wearing it.

"She wouldn't wear a clip or bobble before. I was nervous in the weeks coming up to the treatment. She's coped absolutely brilliant.

" She now wears it 23 hours a day, half an hour off in the morning and half an hour off at night. She has been really good with it."

She now wears it 23 hours a day, half an hour off in the morning and half an hour off at night. She has been really good with it. Mum, Kate Fisher

Sandie Waddle says in the last few years she has seen a sharp increase in the numbers of babies with the condition. She says this is because of the advice given to parents about sudden infant death syndrome.

While the number of cot deaths has dramatically decreased the number of diagnoses of plagiocephaly has gone up.

"We need to tell parents to put the babies on their backs to sleep- that is a definite. But during the day when they are awake we need to encourage tummy time.

"A baby's head is very malleable and soft. If you think about it like a melon - if you put that on the floor, after a certain period of time it will go flat. That's how we must think of a baby's head."

Already after a few short weeks of treatment there is an improvemnt in Matilda's head shape. Although it will never be perfect it is a lot better than what it was.

Kate thinks if Matilda had started treatment earlier then it would have gone back to normal.

Kate wants other parents to be aware of the condition so that they can seek advice at an early stage. Kate has started a group on Facebook and in September will take a petition calling for more awareness to Downing Street.

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