The petition
Plagiocephaly (or "flat head syndrome" as it's often dubbed) is a deformation of the skull, most commonly found in babies - sometimes due to positioning in the womb, but more often now, due to our modern lifestyle. Babies spend their days in car seats, travel systems, laying under baby gyms, and being put on their backs to sleep (as per the hugely successful SIDS campaign). This quite literal “laid back” lifestyle is possibly the main culprit in the rising incidence of babies being diagnosed with varying degrees of plagiocephaly; it all amalgamates to create a constant pressure which flattens the skull; some reports estimate up to 1 in 2 babies has some degree of plagiocephaly.
At the age of 5 months my son was diagnosed with a very severe degree of plagiocephaly. I had to “self-refer”; (find my own specialist) as the NHS did very little to advise or help me with the issue. Had I not gone ahead and done something myself, my son would not have become one of the greatest success stories of my helmet provider so far, and, more importantly, he would not have the beautiful round head that he does today.
Mild cases can often correct themselves in varying degrees, once the baby is more upright/mobile, but more severe cases do not simply “pop out” as the NHS would have us believe. Many parents are then faced with an agonising choice: whether to place their faith in the advice of their health visitors/GPs, and hope the skull will round out on its own, or pay in the region of £2000 for “helmet therapy”, which is currently almost exclusively a private treatment.
This tough (and financially burdensome) choice would not, in most cases, be necessary, IF PARENTS WERE EDUCATED ABOUT THIS CONDITION AS PART OF THEIR ANTE-NATAL CARE. There are many ways of pro-actively avoiding this disfigurement in the first place without compromising the safety of the child, and without any financial outlay - on either the parents' or the NHS's part.
Please sign this petition if you would like the NHS to provide parents with information regarding this condition, and ways of preventing it.
Parents have a right to understand this condition, and how their actions can so easily prevent it becoming a reality for their own children. Too many parents only become aware of "flat head syndrome" when their child is over 18 months old; by which time it's too late to correct.
Thank you for reading.
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