hip dysplasia

Kia ōra mama's Our plunket nurse has just discovered that my four month old daughters creases on her legs don't align together so she's suggesting it could be hip dysplasia. I've talked to my friends who are mums and they've all said why didn't the hospital pick it up when she was born or why didn't they pick it up earlier? I'm sort of at a loss for words because my daughter could either need to wear a brace or have surgery to correct it. What I'm asking is has anyone else dealt with something like this and how did it turn out for you?

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I’m a Plunket nurse as well. Uneven leg creases by itself isn’t an indicator of hip dysplasia. We wouldn’t refer for further investigation based off of this alone, as it more than likely just uneven creases and they don’t indicate an issue. Did your nurse say anything about clicky hips or uneven leg length? If your daughters hips were clicky or her legs were different lengths as well with the uneven creases, then a referral would be done. I’d say 40-50% of the babies I see have uneven creases and they go on to have no problems. I’m sorry your nurse has stressed you out for likely no reason! You can always go and see your GP for peace of mind if needed 😊

My daughter is 12m now. From birth I noticed she didn't move her left leg the same as her right but all her hip checks came back normal. At 5m she developed the uneven creases and I brought it up at her 5m plunket check and my nurse agreed that she should be checked by GP. GP agreed that something wasn't right but it wasn't clicky hips so she referred her for peace of mind. In her xray it was clear that one of her sockets hadn't developed properly so she went into a Spica just before Christmas and came out of it about a month ago and wears a rhino brace for sleeping. Its been a journey but at each step it could have easily also been nothing. Definitely chat to GP about a 2nd opinion of needed

We are going through the hip dysplasia journey. I'm not sure hip stability is something the hospital check when babies are born. I know my midwife did a hip check during the first 6 weeks home visits and our gp too during the 6 week check up. Both times we were told they felt stable, turns out they were both dislocated since birth 😞. There is certain criteria that might make people more susceptible to it, such as family history, being a first born, being female and being breach. So unless some of these were flagged it may not have been highlighted as an issue.

Best to get booked in for a xray or ultrasound to see how the hips look. It may not be hip dysplasia, but if it is, it may be mild and corrected easily with a brace. The earlier it is treated they better. Our story is still ongoing unfortunately. Ours was picked up at 12 weeks old (I wish I'd pushed harder to be seen earlier 😞) so we went through the Pavlik harness, then the Spica cast and now on to surgery at 3 years old. Ours is not the typical story though, so don't be alarmed, we have family history of it. Lots of people do a few months in the harness and all is fixed. The hips are still developing when they are young, so get seen asap. If you do find yourself on a hip dysplasia journey there is an amazing Facebook group called harness heros that is so supporting of how to deal with everything as it can be quite overwhelming.

Thank you māmas 💓 It's is very disheartening when our plunket said straight off the back it could be hip dysplasia no explaination or anything. We have a GP appt on Monday which couldn't come any sooner but she literally stressed me out when she said that and mentioned the brace and surgery 😅 I'm a FM so anything little or big to do with my daughter I get stressed it's just in my nature to but I'm holding out until our GP appt and will go from there, was just about overwhelmed with being told that and not given anymore information other then I need to contact my GP so thank you so much ❤

We had uneven creases and went to the GP who referred us for an X-ray which we had to go to star ship for and also see a specialist there. It was total overkill and she didn’t have a problem at all ultimately. A subsequent doctor at our GP clinic said Plunket spook parents a lot with the creases and mentioning hip dysplasia.

Arg! Plunket have done this to us too! She has even legs no clicky hips etc but she haaad to mention it and get my anxiety up! Then you get guilts over swaddling as they say that can cause it.. just wait for an actual GP check before you worry :) x

Hi, Can I ask what the outcome of this was? My baby had her 8 week check today and they noticed asymmetrical thigh crease and have asked for an urgent scan Thank you