club foot

sunshine · 01-07-2010, 12:32 AM

i had a doula interview scheduled tonight w/ potential clients due in june, vbac homebirthers. the dad called to tell me that club foot was detected on the ultrasound yesterday. they are stunned and are travelling across state to meet w/ specialists. he said club foot is often accompanied by chromosonal abnormalities. he sounded incredibly sad. we are going to meet later, when they have more info and have had a chance to calm down. anyone have any experience w/ this?

1stimestar · 01-07-2010, 12:40 AM

No direct experience but he is correct in that it is often a sign of other problems. That doesn't mean there ARE other problems. Let them investigate and come to terms with what is going on.

Tiffany · 01-07-2010, 08:23 AM

I had a 17 year old client with her first baby where the u/s detected club feet. I was her only support and this baby ended up being breech. We tried everything to get the baby to turn and honestly I think this baby was breech because he couldn't get himself positioned right. When he was born he did indeed have two significantly club feet - the nurse that handed me the baby after the section told me this was a "bad case".

The young mom ended up moving back to her home province to have her family help, because the baby had to have both his legs casted to try to turn them outward. He didn't have any chromosomal abnormalities.

sunshine · 01-07-2010, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiffany

I had a 17 year old client with her first baby where the u/s detected club feet. I was her only support and this baby ended up being breech. We tried everything to get the baby to turn and honestly I think this baby was breech because he couldn't get himself positioned right. When he was born he did indeed have two significantly club feet - the nurse that handed me the baby after the section told me this was a "bad case".

The young mom ended up moving back to her home province to have her family help, because the baby had to have both his legs casted to try to turn them outward. He didn't have any chromosomal abnormalities.

did the u/s rule anything out for her birth experience (if the baby wouldn't have been breech)? this is one of the things they are worrying about. they had so hoped for a home vbac (the only place you can have one currently in our community).

cddoula · 01-20-2010, 11:37 PM

I knew a mom once who didn't even know she was pregnant (that's a whole different story though) and her daughter was born with a club foot and no other abnormalities. Her daughter is actually considered quite a "gifted" child. She was born vaginally.

WestsideDoula · 01-21-2010, 01:22 AM

Does that change their birth preferences? I would be ready to help them find support groups, books, etc. I hope that they still continue with their home birth, that child will have enough of hospitals before the year is out.

DoulaYvonne · 01-21-2010, 08:52 AM

I have a friend whose child was born with a club foot. She doesn't believe in using an ultrasound during pregnancy so this is something that they were unaware of before the birth. Her daughter had a surgery and spent some time in a full leg cast (diapering and car seats were challenging in the beginning). That child has shown no signs of any other anomaly - physically or mentally.

doulafava · 01-21-2010, 11:05 AM

I know a couple children who were born with club feet and there are no other issue. Good luck to your client. I also hope she can have a peaceful HBAC.

Most babies who have clubfoot don't have other abnormalities - the specialist will hopefully help them rule out spina bifida or other issues and not freak them out even more. What does their midwife think?