About four in a thousand babies are born with DDH. This means they have either dislocated or dislocatable hips. It is a result either of positioning in utero, most commonly breech presentation, or a genetic predisposition. It effects girls more often than boys (because they are more susceptible to effects of the maternal hormone relaxin.)
DDH is a shallow hip joint, basically. The hip is a ball and socket joint. If the socket is too shallow it is easier for the ball of femur to slip out or dislocate. Lexy had a shallow hip joint and it was fairly easy for the Orthopedic surgeon to dislocate. Yuck.
At one week of age she was placed in a pavlik harness. This horror show of a contraption splayed out her legs like a frog, and in so doing directed the ball of her femur deeply into the socket of her hip. As she grew the hip socket formed more deeply around the ball from the pressure created by this positioning. She wore it full time for 7 weeks and then just at night for a further 4 weeks.
It was a major drag. It was heartbreaking to know that my precious baby and I would have only one week of skin to skin contact. And it was to make breastfeeding very difficult.
But frankly, it was a blessing that she was diagnosed so early. Had it not been detected within the first few months of her life she would have been in for a far more severe correction and for a much longer period of time.
After the diagnosis, I discovered that my maternal grandmother had surgery for disparate leg length at two years old, indicating that she was probably born with DDH and it went undiagnosed. This meant that Lexy's issue was likely genetic. Had the DDH been missed, Lexy would have needed long term hard casting or surgery. Most kids who have this surgery spend MONTHS in full body casting. So we got off pretty easy.
Make sure your babies are checked well for DDH, especially if they are breech or you have a family history. Toe walking in toddlers can indicate missed DDH too.
Happily the treatment was quite successful, albeit awkward, and now we have a perfect set of baby hips. :)
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