Leanne Briggs and David Rumgay from Kirkcaldy remember vividly the day they were told that their daughter’s skull might have to be operated on in order to reshape it.

Mum Leanne recalls, “I had never heard anything so ridiculous in my life. A specialist told us that if Hannah’s head shape had not changed by the time she was two years old, her skull would have to be opened and the plates separated to allow them to remould naturally. We were horrified.”

Their daughter Hannah Eve Rumgay was born on 7 December 2006 at Forth Park Hospital in Kirkcaldy. Leanne noticed that she had a flat head when she was born, but wasn’t initially too worked up about it. She said, “My partner David and I were more concerned the older Hannah got, as it gradually started to distort her facial features. At first we were told by medical staff that lots of babies have funny shaped heads at birth.”

As time went on Leanne and David became increasingly anxious and sought medical advice. Their local doctor and health visitor recommended repositioning techniques for Hannah, but these did not make any difference.

A tenacious Leanne was determined to get to the bottom of her daughter’s problem and after what she describes as months of pestering, the couple were referred to a specialist at the hospital where Hannah was born. “It was here that we were told about the operation,” said Leanne.

“We could not believe what we were hearing. We are not medical people, but have enough common sense to realise that this had to be the very last resort,” she added.

Fed up with the advice they were receiving, the Rumgays decided to turn to the Internet for help. It was here that they discovered that she had a condition called plagiocephaly or flat head syndrome.

David and Leanne were grateful to read about other parents experiences of the condition and to learn more about a treatment called STARband™. This is a helmet that is worn by children with flat-head syndrome. It works by remoulding the shape of the head.

Armed with this information they decided to take Hannah to see a clinician at the Technology in Motion Clinic in Leeds for a consultation.

The parents say they have never looked back since. Hannah was fitted with the STARband helmet when she was seven months old. Wearing the helmet didn’t bother her at all and Leanne says she noticed a difference in Hannah’s head shape within a week of her wearing it.

“We were amazed that something so simple could make such an improvement in such a short period of time. Hannah wore her STARband for just four months.

Leanne concluded, “Hannah’s head shape is absolutely perfect now. Her facial features are normal, no more bulges out of the sides of her head and her face is now perfectly symmetrical, and we are really relieved to have sorted it out.”

Specialist clinician Sandie Waddell, from Technology in Motion, who treated Hannah said, “When I first saw Hannah she was suffering with severe plagiocephaly and her parents were very anxious. The treatment has been a complete success. We meet many parents like the Rumgays, who are frustrated with the lack of understanding of this condition.”