Creating Awareness about Plagiocephaly
One thing many of our clients have in common is the frustration of how little people around them know about plagiocephaly, also known as baby flat head syndrome. As a result, many have used fundraising efforts to raise awareness in their local communities as well as to raise funds for their babies to undergo the helmet treatment.
One mother who took this approach one-step further recently in the States is Abby Blackburn, occupational therapist and mother of son Miller, who was undergoing plagiocephaly helmet treatment at the time. Out of concern that there was no children’s literature available to help parent’s speak to their children about the helmet, she decided to write a book herself, to answer the questions that her son may ask one day, as well as to help other mothers with babies in a similar situation.
Her book, ‘My Little Blue Helmet’, is a question and answer book that she hopes will enable and encourage parents to open the doors of communication and explain to their children why they had to undergo the treatment when they were infants.
Just like in the UK, the American Academy of Pediatrics introduced its “Back to Sleep” campaign in 1992. Although this did reduce the numbers of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, the number of babies with plagiocephaly, or a form of the condition, increased dramatically.
The response to this was plagiocephaly helmets, which help babies’ heads to grow to a more rounded shape. Unlike here in the UK, helmet treatment for babies with flat head syndrome is not as controversial in the USA and treatment is regularly prescribed, as it is in several European countries.
In the UK, the NHS does not recommend treatment often citing the lack of definitive positive research as a reason. Sadly, this research, although called for, is not commissioned and the debate continues with parents frequently being disappointed at the resulting head shape after following ‘wait and see’ advice.
The helmet works by slowly and gently allowing the head to correct as it grows. With its cleanable closed cell foam lining and semi rigid copolymer shell the helmet is comfortable and babies have very few problems in wearing them.
At Technology in Motion, we have over 120 babies in treatment at any one time and our experts are widely regarded as clinical leaders in this form of treatment. We have achieved a positive outcome for a vast number of babies using our TiMband corrective treatment, meeting the highest quality of care and safety at all times. Click here to find out more about our TiMband treatment.
