July 31, 2017
Seized in April 2017 by an association for the defense of patients, the High Authority for Health (HAS) is preparing to publish its notes on plagiocephaly, the phenomenon of flat heads in babies.
Plagiocephaly can cause cognitive impairment
Since 1994, it has been recommended that parents put newborns on their backs to avoid sudden infant death syndrome. The trouble is, lying on your back too frequently promotes plagiocephaly in infants. In other words, this position helps flatten babies’ skulls. For more than twenty years, the number of children suffering from plagiocephaly has therefore continued to increase.
Currently, 20% of newborns are affected by the phenomenon. Gold, Plagiocephaly is a serious deformity of the skull in infants. According to a HAS official, interviewed by our colleagues from Parisian, plagiocephaly can indeed ” lead to mechanical complications, on the maxillofacial or cervico-brachial level, even cognitive ”
Plagiocephaly is extremely expensive to treat
On April 4, 2017, an association that wishes to educate the French on the risks of plagiocephaly approached the HAS on the subject. According to Claude Rambaud, the vice-president of this association, parents should simply be warned thatthere are solutions to prevent sudden infant death and plagiocephaly. ” Alternate sleep (newborn, editor’s note) one day on the right side, one day on the left side Would be one.
Besides, if the phenomenon of babies with a flat head is to be taken seriously, it is also because it is extremely expensive to treat. Indeed, if a few sessions with a physiotherapist or an osteopath may be enough to stop the mildest plagiocephaly, some infants will have to wear one or even two orthopedic helmets to heal. However, these orthopedic helmets – which are not reimbursed – cost between 980 and 4000 €.
Marie-Hélène Hérouart
Read also: Sudden infant death syndrome: the right reflexes to adopt
