A huge number of medical studies have proved that early diagnosis of Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip has a significantly higher possibility of a positive outcome than a late diagnosis. An early diagnosis is one identified within the first few weeks of life, a late diagnose is one after 1 year of age. Despite this, screening babies for DDH is very rare in the UK and only conducted when there has been a breech presentation during pregnancy, or a family history of DDH. Many parents are not made aware of possible signs of DDH, and many have never heard of it. The only information given about the condition at birth is a single paragraph in the middle of the red health book.  While hip checks are part of the newborn and 6-8 week health checks, 1 in 10 cases of DDH are still being missed.

Universal studies have proved that screening of all babies at birth using ultrasound has greatly reduced the number of infants being diagnosed with DDH after walking age, greatly increasing the outcomes of their treatment and reducing future complications. Examples of countries who screen all babies at birth with ultrasound include Chile who therefore have a late diagnosis of DDH incidence rate of 0.18 per 1000. Unfortunately in the UK, the number of children diagnosed with late DDH has not reduced in the last 35 years, and with populations increasing and further pressure on the NHS system, the number of cases is rising significantly. 

In our personal case, our daughter was a late diagnosis of DDH at 2.5 years of age. Prior to the diagnosis our family had reported issues and concerns with our GP and health visitors numerous times. Despite this, it took for us to take our daughter to A&E to request an X-Ray for the diagnosis to be made. Looking back, the signs should have been very obvious to a health care professional but were unfortunately missed multiple times. Since then, she has undergone reconstructive hip surgery (pelvic and femoral osteotomies) and had to learn to walk again. Fortunately, our daughter’s treatment has been exceptional and her outcome is highly positive.  It is uncertain whether she will require further surgeries at this stage, but she will likely need a hip replacement around 40 years of age.  Had her condition been picked up at birth, it is highly likely that she would have spent a short period of time in a palvik harness, would not have needed surgery and would have developed a perfectly normal hip and socket with no future interventions needed. 

We would like to invite you to sign a petition to make screening for DDH with ultrasound of all babies at birth in the UK the law, thereby reducing the number of children who will suffer life-long complications through late diagnosed DDH. Thank you.