Babies With Flat Heads On The Rise

It occurs when a baby s head develops a flat spot due to pressure on that area.

Babies with flat heads on the rise.

Plagiocephaly or flat spots on the head are now found in nearly. Flat spots related to pressure on the back of the head don t cause brain damage or interfere with a baby s development. Babies born with flat head syndrome has risen dramatically in texes and is expected to follow in other states. In fact many babies from multiple births are born with heads that have some flat spots.

At birth particularly with a forceps or vacuum delivery. Plagiocephaly is a condition that causes a baby s head to have a flat spot flat head syndrome or be misshapen. A new review of the texas birth defects registry shows that cases of flattened heads plagiocephaly increased nine fold between 1999 and 2007 rising from 2 6 cases per 10 000 live births all the. Experts now know that positional plagiocephaly can originate in utero from growth restriction.

Flat head syndrome now affects 47 percent of babies and guidelines to prevent sudden infant death syndrome could be to blame. Flat head syndrome or plagiocephaly as the condition is medically known occurs when a flat spot develops on the back or side of a baby s head. In the study reported cases of plagiocephaly jumped from 3 cases per 10 000 live births to 28 8 cases per 10 000 live births between 1999 to 2007 according to data. The condition can cause the baby s head to look.

Between 1999 and 2007 the number of cases of plagiocephaly misshapen areas in. Now he figures that babies with flat heads account for one of every four new outpatient visits at a i dupont hospital for children in wilmington del where he is a neurosurgeon. A lot has changed since my son was born in 2002. Flat head syndrome can even start before birth if there s pressure on the baby s skull from the mother s pelvis or a twin.

The most common form is positional plagiocephaly. The american academy of pediatrics aap explains that flat head syndrome also sometimes called cranial asymmetry which means the head is not symmetrical is usually not medically worrisome and often temporary the most common issue with flat head syndrome is making sure that your baby s head is flat because of positioning and not a bigger medical condition such as an. Or in infancy if a baby spends too much time flat on his back. Keep in mind that if you spend too much time worrying about your baby s head shape you might miss some of the fun of being a new parent.