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Any Mums out there whose baby was born with a club foot

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  • FATBALLZ
    FATBALLZ Posts: 5,146 Forumite
    Well I'm not a mum but hopefully I'm allowed to post anyway...

    My child had a club foot, was never picked up on a scan but was apparent when they were born. We were given some physio to do and it sorted itself out within a few months (can't remember how long it was now, maybe 3 or 4). I forget they ever had it now.

    Apparently Steven Gerrard had it too, didn't do him any harm...
  • KiKi
    KiKi Posts: 5,381 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    Is IIRC a type of physio or a body
    Thanks Glimmer

    You misunderstand the post...IIRC means "If I recall correctly". :)

    Hope everything goes well with your baby. :)
    KiKi
    ' <-- See that? It's called an apostrophe. It does not mean "hey, look out, here comes an S".
  • laulau1
    laulau1 Posts: 57 Forumite
    My son who we adopted aged 9 months was born with a club foot. He had numerous casts on it from being a few weeks old,then had small op, then had to wear boots and a bar, which kept his feet at certain angle, for 23hours per day. When he was 9 months old they changed to only wearing the bar at night. When he started to get out of bed on his own at aged 2.5 we stopped using the bar. We stretch his foot everynight before bed and he see's the consultant and physio alternate 6 months. His walking etc is fine now! Hope that helps
  • shar46y wrote: »
    Glimmer, one of my twin daughters had a left clubfoot (fixed talipes) detected at the 20 week scan.

    It depends where you are located, but see if you can find a practitioner who uses the Ponseti method (a Google search will probably bring up a list of UK treatment centres)

    We were living in London when she was born, she started Ponseti treatment at the Royal Free Hospital at 4 weeks (some babies start earlier but her birth hospital was a bit slow with the referral paperwork).

    It consists of a series of 3-4 weekly plaster casts to correct the talipes, then (in many cases) a very mini surgical procedure (tenotomy) to loosen the Achilles tendon which for our DD was done with local anaesthetic in a few minutes, then a final plaster cast for 3 weeks. After this, the baby wears an orthopaedic brace consisting of boots and bar - first full-time for 3 months, then nights and nap times until the age of 3-5 years (depending on the practitioner).

    Our DD is 2 and a half now, her foot is beautifully corrected and she walks, runs and climbs even better than her twin sister. No lay person (and few medical professionals even!) can tell she was born with a clubfoot.

    If you need more info, please ask. Also look on the STEPS charity website, they have loads of resources and a discussion forum.

    http://www.steps-charity.org.uk/

    Thankyou
    After a very distressed night lots of talking and tears it has helped to read your post and to hear about your DD
    We had already googled the ponseti method and will be asking the hospital all the details at our follow up scan in a couple of weeks.
    Thankyou for the link

    :)
    Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

    :pOfficial DFW Nerd 1365:p
  • shar46y
    shar46y Posts: 249 Forumite
    Glad to be of help. If you have more questions just ask, there are a lot of practicalities which we found daunting at first.

    All the best to you and bump!
  • happy35
    happy35 Posts: 1,616 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    i havent a child with a club foot however I watched a programme on the telly a while ago where they wer trialling a non surgical procedure to correct it.

    If I remember correctly it involved binding the feet into position moving a millimetre every few weeks, all of the children did very well and their feet were in the correct position by the time they were ready to start walking

    I have a friend who was born with a club foot, she had surgery as a baby that was succesful and apart from a small scar you would never know there had ever been a problem
  • Hiya, I'm not a mum but I am a midwife, so I hope I'm okay to reply here!

    Talipes (club foot) can be either fixed (sometimes called structural) or positional. It's possible that they won't be able to tell you which your baby has until after he's born. (Incidentally, it's about twice as common in boys as girls.)

    If it's positional, then they will show you the massaging exercises and physio that you can do to correct it, and it usually corrects very successfully. If it's fixed, then he will need some kind of treatment to correct it, usually manipulating the foot into the right position and then putting into a cast or a splint to hold it in place. Sometimes the baby will need treatment for several months, and sometimes they need to have it splinted at night for a little longer. Sometimes, but not often, a small operation is required.

    Your baby will have a check by a paediatrician within 24 hours of birth and they will advise you what needs to be done. In the meantime, make sure you speak to your midwife or your consultant if you have any questions or concerns. Try not to worry though, talipes is more common than you'd think, particularly the positional type. Hope this helps. :)
  • katgirlie wrote: »
    Hiya, I'm not a mum but I am a midwife, so I hope I'm okay to reply here!

    Talipes (club foot) can be either fixed (sometimes called structural) or positional. It's possible that they won't be able to tell you which your baby has until after he's born. (Incidentally, it's about twice as common in boys as girls.)

    If it's positional, then they will show you the massaging exercises and physio that you can do to correct it, and it usually corrects very successfully. If it's fixed, then he will need some kind of treatment to correct it, usually manipulating the foot into the right position and then putting into a cast or a splint to hold it in place. Sometimes the baby will need treatment for several months, and sometimes they need to have it splinted at night for a little longer. Sometimes, but not often, a small operation is required.

    Your baby will have a check by a paediatrician within 24 hours of birth and they will advise you what needs to be done. In the meantime, make sure you speak to your midwife or your consultant if you have any questions or concerns. Try not to worry though, talipes is more common than you'd think, particularly the positional type. Hope this helps. :)


    Hi ya Katgirlie
    Thankyou soo much for taking the time to respond; if only somebody at the hospital had given us this info we wouldn't have come home feeling our world has been torn apart whereas actually we had an otherwise healthy baby boy who would just need a bit more of our time.
    We have had a 2nd scan with the consultant and he thinks it is positional; however as you have said above until he pops out we will not know; we also have a referral to an orthepedic consultant for before he was born so we can fully understand what will happen. I contacted the STEPS charity on the recomendation of another poster and the leaflets we received gave us alot more info including a leaflet written by a mum whose son had talipes.
    thankyou once again and wishing you a happy 2012
    Glimmer
    Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

    :pOfficial DFW Nerd 1365:p
  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 47,314 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    One of DS3's friends had this. I don't know what sort, but I think it must have been fairly severe as it was still affecting him sometimes while he was at junior school - boots, special shoes etc.

    We didn't see so much of him when they went to senior school, but he doesn't seem to have any problems now, walks normally, rides a bike etc etc etc.
    Signature removed for peace of mind
  • kassi
    kassi Posts: 96 Forumite
    Hi I was born in 1966 with a right club foot. I think my early treatment was a cast then at the age of 2 I had an operation to straighten the foot as it had turned inwards again. (apparently the doc that did the op pioneered the op):)
    This lasted me until 2006 when I had another operation where they broke my metatarsal bone and put in clips, as the foot was turning again and causing me pain in the foot and my back. I have a curve of my spine (but not sure if this is connected) and my right foot is slightly smaller than my left, and my right leg is slightly shorter than my left and also slimmer.
    Throughout my life the only thing I haven't been able to do because of my foot is wear High Heeled shoes...so much more comfortable in flat boots or trainers!!
    I'm sure your child will live a life full of all the things other children do and won't be restricted by his foot as treatment for it is brill!!

    Good luck and congratulations :)
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