Mother to lobby PM over syndrome

An estimated one in 30 babies are affected by the condition

A woman who had to pay £2,000 for treatment for her baby's medical condition is to lobby Gordon Brown to call for it to be made free on the NHS.

Kate Fisher's daughter Matilda has a form of plagiocephaly, also known as flat head syndrome.

As a result, the 18-month-old's head is wider than it is long.

Ms Fisher, from Mirfield, West Yorkshire, has collected over 5,000 signatures on a petition calling for the NHS to fund special helmets.

She will hand it to the Prime Minister at Downing Street on Monday.

By the time Matilda was referred to a specialist at 14 months, the family was told she was too old to be treated on the NHS and they had turn to private treatment.

Ms Fisher, 22, said: "Us parents get told by doctors 'there's nothing wrong with it', they don't tell them the name of the condition.

"Some even just say 'grow their hair and it will cover it'.

"But hopefully by doing this it will create as much awareness as possible and then the NHS could give information out to new parents about the condition."

Matilda's head was growing outwards, it was getting wider and wider and it would have continued to do so Kate Fisher

An estimated one in 30 babies are affected by forms of plagiocephaly.

Some, like Matilda, are born with it because they spend a long time in the birthing canal, but many develop it afterwards.

Most grow out of it after about a year, but Matilda did not.

If nothing had been done to correct the condition, she would have encountered difficulties, such as wearing glasses or a bike helmet, later in life.

After being told she could not receive treatment on the NHS, Ms Fisher and her partner paid £2,000 for the special helmet called a Starband.

Worn for 23 hours a day, it is slowly helping to correct the shape of Matilda's head.