'My three kids all had the same condition'

“It’s important to catch it early, because it’s way more life changing without early treatment.”

Joel Erickson

3 min read

June 7, 2024 - 3:18PM

Family Life

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Mum-of-three Bec knows what it’s like to have doctors tell you there’s something up with your child.

After having her first child, Paige, Bec’s maternal health nurse spotted something irregular at her first daughter’s 12-week checkup.

Paige had uneven creases in her hips, a sign of hip dysplasia.

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Hip dysplasia is a condition where a baby’s hip joints haven’t developed properly, and can potentially lead to serious health issues down the track if not treated properly.

So treat it they did. Paige was put into a pelvic harness, and spent the better part of the first seven months of her life with her hips forced into the best position for development.

Paige holding her Pavlik harness at 7 months when she swapped into a Rhino harness. Picture: Supplied

"I didn't get to see any orthopaedic doctors"

Thankfully for Bec, the harness didn’t affect Paige’s movement development.

“She crawled within a week after we took the brace off,” she said. “She walked a week after her first birthday.

“She was already trying to get around even with the brace, she’d drag herself around the place.”

Bec and her husband had another little girl, Imogen, who would also be diagnosed with hip dysplasia at 12 weeks, albeit a milder case.

This time, however, Bec decided to go with private treatment for her little girl.

“I just didn’t feel like the care was great (with Paige),” she said. “I didn’t see any orthopaedic doctors, and it felt like it took a really long time.

“I didn’t really get to speak to anyone about Paige.”

Imogen in a Rhino brace at four months old. Picture: Supplied

"There's definitely potential I had it as well"

Both Paige and Imogen have shown no ill effects since they were treated for hip dysplasia as babies, but when Bec got pregnant for a third time, she couldn’t help but wonder if it was a pattern.

Her third child, a little boy named Darcy, has shown very mild signs of hip dysplasia as well, but not enough to put him in a brace.

With three children all with hip dysplasia, Bec now believes she may have had it when she was a child, albeit undiagnosed.

“I had a lot of hip pain as a child,” she said. “They thought I had Perthes Disease, which is a femoral head crumbling disease.

“There’s definitely potential that I did have it, but I don’t know if there was as much education about it back then.”

Paige, now 7, and Imogen, now 3, hold their little brother Darcy. Picture: Upon Our Days Photography

"We did have to buy some different things"

While hip dysplasia won’t have too much impact on a child’s life if caught early, Bec said it was still “frustrating” to have two of her children in braces.

“These braces can be so wide that they can’t even fit in a car seat,” she said.

“We did have to buy some different things. We had to jump up a size in clothes because they needed to fit over the brace, and we bought a new car seat because she didn’t fit in her capsule when the brace was on.”

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Bec said it was worth getting kids checked for hip dysplasia early, but there were also warning signs parents could look out for.

“If they’re walking or running a bit differently, or if they’re a bit tight in their groin area when you’re doing a nappy, they could be signs,” she said.

“When they’re older, if they’re limping or in pain, that’s definitely a red flag.

“It’s important to catch it early, because it’s way more life changing without early treatment.”

The MCRI is currently running the Victorian hip dysplasia registry, or VicHip, to learn more about the condition and find better ways to diagnose and manage it. For more information, click here.