A specialist team in Bristol says more research is needed into flat head syndrome, a condition which is thought to affect up to 40% of babies. Southmead Hospital runs the only NHS clinic offering helmet therapy for infants with flattened heads. The advice to lie babies on their backs to prevent cot deaths is one of the most successful public health interventions, but can cause babies to develop a flat head.
Most cases are mild and self-correct over time, but babies with moderate to severe cases can be referred to experts in Bristol for cosmetic treatment. The reconstructive science team takes photos of babies' heads which are run through 3D software, to help create bespoke helmets with a 3D printer.
Babies usually from the age of six months are advised to wear the helmets for 23 hours a day. The helmet corrects the condition by relieving pressure on the flat side. Number of patients in hospital with flu in England quadruples in month. Scientists build tiny virtual reality goggles for mice.
AI tool detects heart condition before people have symptoms. It is a unique clinic; the only NHS trust in the country offering helmet therapy for babies with flat heads, known as plagiocephaly or brachycephaly. Elsewhere, parents have to go privately, and at a cost of £2,500, it can be prohibitively expensive.
'There's not a lot of information out there'. We met mum Becky Darby and her one-year-old son Leo at the Bristol clinic. Becky says she became worried about the shape of his head when he was four months old. "One side of his head was flat and the rest was perfectly round, but where he was constantly lying on it, it was getting flatter," she said.
