When bouncing baby Kiera Short was born a year ago she was the picture of perfection. Her parents Lisa and Christian couldn’t have wanted for a more beautiful baby.

But their pride turned to fear when after two months they discovered that her head had become severely mis-shapen. Health visitors advised the couple to place her on her tummy and to avoid putting on her back which would exacerbate the problem.

One health visitor told the couple, from Abbots Langley, near Watford, that her hair would cover the ridge that had appeared on the right side of her head.

The little girl was suffering from plagiocephaly and brachiocephaly – also known as flat head syndrome – which can occur when the soft skull is pushed out of shape because of the way a baby lies.

Mum Lisa, started to surf the net to look for ways to help Kiera, but read various horror stories from parents who had not taken action quickly enough and whose children were left with flat head syndrome for life.

“We were petrified. I was a mum for the first time and I worried that I’d done something wrong to make her that way. Time was getting on Kiera was almost five months old and we still hadn’t found a solution. Christian made a dense foam support to try and manipulate her head back to its round shape. But nothing worked.”

Lisa eventually read an article in a parenting magazine which talked about  STARband, a treatment which uses a specially fitted band or helmet to enable the baby’s head to be gradually re-shaped as it grows. The technology has enabled over 1,000 babies to achieve normal, rounded heads after just a few months of use.

After an initial consultation at the Technology in Motion clinic in Wimbledon the couple were convinced of the benefits and paid the £1,800 for treatment.

Says Lisa: “Keira’s first few days with the helmet were unsettled, then she took to it really well and thought it was part of her outfit. When we went out people used to stare, but I wasn’t bothered because I knew it was for the best.
“She started wearing it at six months and within three weeks there was a dramatic improvement. We are extremely grateful and delighted with the results. It was worth every penny.”