By Aileen Robertson

A YOUNG Fife mother has hit out at the lack of treatment and support for babies with flat-head syndrome.

Rebecca Somerville (24), of Rosyth, is trying to get a cranial re-moulding helmet for her son Lawson, who was born with brachycephaly, a condition caused when plates in the skull fail to fuse properly causing the head to be misshapen.

She said the NHS would not fund a helmet for six-month-old Lawson and she fears he could be left disfigured for life if he is not treated soon.

With adult cosmetic treatments funded by the NHS, Mrs Somerville said conditions affecting children should be treated with more urgency.

“The helmet treatment is best started between four months and seven months to get the head back into shape,” said Mrs Somerville.

“The physiotherapist said Lawson’s condition was moderate to severe. From what I’ve been told, yes, it can resolve itself but they can’t guarantee to what extent.

“The skull can continue to form until 18 months, so if it hasn’t changed then it won’t.”

She continued, “Our consultant said if he could get a helmet he would. We’re now waiting for an appointment with the clinical director.

“Our GP is writing to the clinical director to try to get them to see us a little bit quicker.”

Lawson’s head was flatter at the back than a normal baby’s at birth, said the mother of two, and the condition worsened during his first months.

Mrs Somerville said there had not been much sign of improvement.

“My husband works off-shore and is gone two weeks at a time. He doesn’t see a great deal of improvement when he gets back,” she said.

“And we’ve not had much support at all.”

Her main concern is how other children will treat Lawson when he is older if his condition does not improve.

“If Lawson gets bullied when he goes to school there is nothing we can do about it.”

She continued, “I know this is a cosmetic problem, but adults are given cosmetic surgery because of other side effects such as depression so why is it different for children?

“If I went private, the helmet would cost about £2000, plus travelling expenses. A lot of people can’t afford that kind of money.”

A spokeswoman for NHS Fife said brachycephaly and plagiocephaly, which is similar but affects a different area of the head, were “extremely common.”

She said, “In Fife, the paediatric department sees at least five children a month with this condition, with referrals on the increase.

“General advice is given by a paediatrician on re-positioning the head and severe cases are referred to a physiotherapist or to the maxillofacial unit in St John’s Hospital, West Lothian and the paediatric neurosurgical unit in Edinburgh.

“The majority of children develop normally and the condition resolves itself without intervention and with minimal long term asymmetry.

“Although there has been considerable interest in the use of headbands or helmets to alter the relative growth of the skull, it is believed by Fife paediatricians that there is not enough clinical evidence to back up this theory.

“This is in line with the rest of Scotland.”