Sara-Marie Wright

Sara-Marie Wright

When Sharron-Marie and Andrew Wright noticed that Sara-Marie, their four-week-old baby, had an unusually flat head, they feared the worst.

The couple sought expert advice, only to be told that their little girl would grow out of it. 

But when a Consultant told the worried mum that the condition would right itself by the time the little girl was five, Sharron-Marie was concerned that her daughter would be a target for school bullies.

Sara-Marie was perfectly normal when she was born two weeks early, weighing 7lbs 4oz at the Queen’s Medical Hospital in Nottingham, but the shape of her head changed in a matter of weeks.

Says Sharron-Marie: “It started at the back of her head which was really flat. I left it for a couple of weeks, but when her face started to twist and she had difficulty turning her neck to the left, we really began to panic.”

By chance, Sharron-Marie had seen an article in the local newspaper about a little boy who suffered with plagiocephaly - known as flat head syndrome – which can occur when the soft skull is pushed out of shape. This can be caused by a number of things –from a baby’s position in the womb to a preferred sleeping position.

She also discovered, after doing some internet research – that repositioning techniques and physiotherapy could have helped to loosen the muscles in her daughter’s neck – reducing the flat head symptoms.

The baby boy in the article had benefited substantially from STARband™, a treatment which uses a specially-fitted helmet to enable the baby’s head to be gradually re-shaped as it grows. The technology has enabled over 1,500 babies to achieve normal, rounded heads after just a few months of use.

But a deadline was looming, for the treatment is most effective on babies under the age of 14 months and by this time Sara-Marie was getting on for nine months old.

Sharron-Marie took the article and information she’d found on the internet to an appointment with a cranial expert, but was told that the problem was cosmetic, and that the NHS could not offer treatment.

Still no further on in her attempts to get her daughter’s condition treated, another coincidence came to Sharron-Marie’s aid. While waiting to pick up her other daughter from school, the worried mum noticed that another toddler in a pushchair was wearing a STARband helmet, just like the one in the newspaper article. She spoke to the child’s mother, who gave her the number for Technology in Motion’s centre in Leeds.

The couple arranged an appointment. They quickly became convinced of the benefits of STARband, but couldn’t afford almost £2,000 for the treatment.

“I was devastated,” says Sharron-Marie. “Time was running out and we couldn’t afford the treatment, so we decided to approach the Mountsorrel charity which offers help to local residents. Thankfully, we were regarded as a deserving case.”

So, at the age of 11 months, Sara-Marie started to wear her helmet and in July was discharged, the treatment having achieved a brilliant result.

“It made a massive improvement,” says Sharron-Marie. “We were terrified that if we left it Sara-Marie would have been bullied at school. I’m so glad we didn’t decide to let nature take its course and leave her as she was. I am indebted to the local charity who gave us the financial support we needed and to the Technology in Motion centre for making our lovely little daughter better.”

She added: “If it wasn’t for the kind mum at my elder daughter’s school, I might never have discovered where to find a STARband helmet. I’d advise any parent concerned about their baby’s head shape to get in touch with Technology in Motion, and to ask for their information pack.”