A MUM is sharing her experiences of bringing up two children with flat-head syndrome to help raise awareness of the condition.

Kate Sherry spoke to medical experts from across the country about the condition plagiocephaly, which affects her two sons Daniel and Luke.

The condition, which affects one in 30 newborn babies, causes flat spots to develop when babies spend too much time with their soft heads resting in the same position.

Daniel, four, was born six weeks premature at Burnley General Hospital in December 2004.

After a few months Kate, 37, from Horton, Gisburn, noticed he had a tendency to lie on one side and that his head was flat on one side.

She was told by a health visitor this would correct itself over time.

But Kate was not satisfied with the advice and took Daniel to her GP.

She said: “Looking back I think I was just fobbed off by the doctor.

"She gave me the same advice as the health visitor. I wish I had known then what I do now.”

Daniel now struggles to get glasses and headgear to fit, and he finds it difficult to put jumpers on. Kate and her husband Chris fear he may be bullied at school.

The couple’s second child, Luke, was born last year.

Again premature, Kate noticed that his head-shape was following a similar pattern when he was just a couple of months old.

This time she turned to the internet: “There were lots of parents out there going through the same anguish.

"I read about treatments available and discovered that there was a clinic that treated the condition.”

Kate arranged for Luke to see a specialist at the Technology in Motion clinic in Leeds.

They fitted a helmet to his head, which remoulded it to the right shape.

She said: “Luke took to the helmet really well. He wore it for 23 hours a day.

"After just four months it was deemed a success.”

Kate has shared her experiences with medical experts at a seminar in Leeds.

She said: “We are genuinely horrified by the lack of knowledge of the condition and I’m so keen to raise awareness so that parents know where they can turn.

“As parents we feel guilty as both boys were born with perfectly shaped heads.

“The most frustrating thing is that with the correct advice, in most cases plagiocephaly is preventable.”

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