Found out today that our baby has Clubfoot

[soon2bamom]

Last week we went to our first ultrasound to find out that our baby might have clubfoot in one foot but that it was unlikely and to come back this week for another scan.

Today we go in for our second ultrasound to find out the bad news, that our baby has clubfoot (Talipes Equinus), where the feet are pointed down like a ballerina dancer, and it is in both feet.

We were at the hospital for three hours and were told to sit in another room as the doctor made some calls. We are supposed to see a team of specialists in a few days to talk about some fetal diagnostic testing and what our 'options' are. As sad and horrible it is for any abnormality, we didn't think clubfoot would turn out to be such a big deal but I guess it could be linked to other abnormalities.

They might have us do an amnio and to my surprise when I tried to research this today I found out that some early amnio's have actually caused clubfoot.

I read the other postings on here about clubfoot and was a bit relieved to hear about some of your stories. I guess my questions to you are; do you have any advice? What can they tell by doing an amnio? Is there anything you recommend or suggest we avoid?

What a stressful day to what we hoped would be a day of relief!

Thank you for all of your comments and suggestions, I look forward to speaking to others who are going through, or have gone through the same thing.

On the positive side we received confirmation that we are having a baby girl and everything else looks healthy.

 

[Gizmo]

My little girl had a clubfoot when she was born.... she is now 18..... it has never bothered her although she needs to pay more attention to footwear (which she doesnt as she likes fashion lol) they wanted to put a brace on when she was little, we didnt do this, she is an accomplished rider and putting her heels down in the stirrups really helped... stretching the muscles in the foot is realy important. She is flatfooted and wears down heels ALOT lol..... She models and nobody has ever noticed, not even when she is barefoot. Now maybe there are varying degrees of this problem but I can almost say without a doubt that specialists tend to make more of it than they should
BTW in regards to there being something else wrong well I can tell you my daughter is a perfectly annoying healthy 18 yr old that drives me mad

 

[babyblue14]

i have to agree with gizmo. the specialists always make things out to be worse than what they really are in my opinion. Don't get me wrong it does vary in severity.
i was born with a club foot. i'am now 26 and have hardly any problems, apart from my ankle gets achy on occassion's, and being pregnant it's a little swollen due to the extra weight.

When my mother was pregnant on me they didn't do amnio's so i cannot comment on that sorry. And just for the record i work 12 hour shifts as a nurse on my feet constantly and all's fine. Please try not to worry

 

[MrsEshaw]

my sister had club foot. she had to wear casts on both legs for a while (few months), this was all before she could walk, so it wasn't bothersome.

She now has beautiful model legs. She also ran cross country and track in highschool and college. Obviously it didn't slow her down.

Try to not worry and enjoy the rest of your pregnancy, it is a special time =)

 

[Nosy_Cow]

Just a quick note to let you know.

When my daughter was diagnosed with spina bifida and hydrocephalus the one thing they looked for was clubbed feet. I'm not really sure how they are linked but it would explain why they are making a big deal out of it.

I'm sure it's nothing to worry about (I do hope this doesn't worry you) if they've spotted the club feet they would have spotted spina bifida by now!

Good Luck x

 

[kermie219]

I was born with club feet and I am ok now! I do have really high arches so have problems finding comfy shoes...can't where really flat shoes like sketchers they murder my feet now But your baby will be ok try not to worry yourself sick love It is a problem that can be fixed Big hugs!

 

[maybebaby3]

i know girls whose kids had clubfoot. 1 has been fine with phisio, the other needed surgery. both kids r fine.

 

[saraendepity]

hey hun, i have no personaly experience but a girl who goes to my baby group's son has it and he is a very healthy happy little boy...he was in cast for a while (i think around 10-12 weeks) and now has a little brace thingie across his feet but his mummy says it is looking loads better.

Huge huge hun,

sara

xxxx

 

[beancounter]

I guess it must be linked to other things, but you can also have a perfect baby with a clubfoot- when I was born they didn't pick it up on scans let alone offer amino tests so it was a surprise but I had calipers as a baby and I don't remember that so I don't thing about it much.. apart from now I've had a baby when I wonder how my mum felt about it! It must have been harder for her than me x

 

[leighbaby]

Steven Gerrard was born with a clubfoot! With the right treatment, your LO will overcome it and will be able to accomplish whatever she wants

 

[Jordicia]

Hi hun, My little cousin had quite severe club feet when she was born and had to under-go a few surgeries to correct it. You would never know now that she ever had a problem. She walks perfectly, feet look the same as everyone else and she wears the footwear she wants to. They can do amazing things these days and I'm sure your little princess will do just fine xxxxxxxxxx

 

[iwarren]

Hi!
I had clubfoot 35 yrs ago and its not really been an issue for me. happy to discuss further

 

[hayleysd]

Ollie was born with club foot but his feet were flat to his legs when he was born, you now wouldn't know, the physio at the hospital just gave us exercises to stretch it down. my friends baby had the same and she's fine now too. Neither were picked up on scans

Also another friend of mines son was born with his foot bent outwards, he had surgery and the only sign was a scar on his leg, he was a keen footballer but it just got a bit achy if he played too much

 

[flubdub]

My bestfriends little boy was born with a clubfoot two years ago. They knew from the 20 week scan that he had it, and once they had found out, the drs and consultants scared the hell out of my friend, showing her videos and giving her all sorts of scary facts and figures while she was sat there in tears. When the baby was born, you couldnt even tell by looking at him, which foot it was.
He had to have some special shoes made that clamped onto a hard plastic strip, exactly like these, https://www.kkpros.com/images/shoe/dbs.jpg
He was supposed to wear them day and night for the first few months, then just at night until he was 5!! She hardly ever put them on him, as he couldnt move when he had them on, and after a while, never bothered at all. Six months ago he went for a checkup, and they said he was fine
Not exactly the same situation, but will hopefully give you some new info
The brace he wore was much the same as the ones on this website, but more child frindly - bright blue plastic with pictures on https://ponseti.info/parents/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=40