Was your Maternal Child Health Nurse the first one to pick up on your baby’s hip dysplasia?
In Australia, we have a wonderful Government funded service in place for new parents to visit with a Maternal and Child Health Nurse (MCHN) for health, growth and development support from when a baby is born up until around 6 years of age.
So why are we writing about this? The nurses perform hip checks to look out for developmental dysplasia of the hip!
Hip dysplasia is not always present when a baby is born, it can develop afterwards, so our MCHN’s are often the ones who pick up on it.
When my first daughter Chloe was a baby, our MCHN was concerned about Chloe’s uneven bum creases and advised us to get an ultrasound to check for hip dysplasia. Luckily, it was all clear.
When my second daughter Mackenzie was born, she had clicky hips and we were put on a waiting list to get an ultrasound. At Mackenzie’s 8 week check up with the MCHN (we still hadn’t had the ultrasound), our nurse was extremely concerned about Mackenzie’s hips and advised us to arrange an ultrasound ourselves as a matter of urgency. We got a doctor’s referral and ultrasound a day or so later and found out Mackenzie had hip dysplasia and her left hip was dislocated. It was a traumatic experience for me and you can read about it here.
Despite the hip dislocation, Mackenzie’s hip dysplasia was able to be treated with a Pavlik Harness and thankfully, she didn’t require surgery. If it weren’t for our MCHN, our treatment would have been delayed and possibly very different.
So here’s to all of the MCHN’s around Australia (and possibly around the world). Thank you for playing such an important role in identifying developmental dysplasia of the hip!
For more posts about life with a baby receiving treatment for developmental dysplasia of the hip, browse our blog here: https://www.hipsleepers.com.au/blog/
To view our range of specialty hip dysplasia baby clothes and accessories, click here: https://www.hipsleepers.com.au/shop-all/