A MUM from Polgooth is calling on the Government to screen all newborn babies for a debilitating hip condition after doctors failed to diagnose her daughter for five and a half years.
Ellie Datson, now aged 8, has had to undergo two major operations in the past three years, after doctors realised she was born without a hip socket in her left leg – a condition known as hip dysplasia.
"They were absolutely amazed she could walk," her mum Debbie explained. "She did everything any other five-year-old would do. She never kept still.
"It was only when she went through a growth spurt when she was 5 I noticed she had a limp and took her to the doctors."
After having an X-ray at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, Ellie was diagnosed with the condition in 2010.
"The radiographer took one look at the X-ray and she went white," Mrs Datson explained.
Subsequently the youngster has had to endure two operations followed by months of being wrapped in plaster cast, as well as continuing physiotherapy and the prospect of having more operations in the future. But Mrs Datson, a former nurse, said her daughter's treatment would have been less complicated if the condition had been picked up earlier.
She is now urging people to sign a petition to present to health ministers calling for all babies to be scanned at birth.
Around 1 in 20 babies is born with some form of hip instability, although only 2 to 3 per cent of these are serious enough to require treatment.
Joining forces with another mum, Hayley Donald from St Newlyn East, whose six-year-old daughter Isabelle was born with the same condition, the pair are hoping to raise awareness about hip dysplasia.
They currently have 2,500 signatures on an e-petition aimed at getting the subject debated in Parliament. They need to collect 100,000 by April next year.
Mrs Datson said: "If detected early, the condition can be much easier to treat with a special harness which holds the legs in a frog-like position and aids the hips to develop in the correct position.
"If missed, as in Ellie and Belle's cases, the treatment can be much more complicated, traumatic and invasive."
Although Mrs Datson said her daughter would have had to have surgery at some stage, her treatment would have been less complicated and less stressful for both Ellie and the family.
The duo also support other families with children being treated with the same condition and give advice to other parents on a Facebook group called Families Coping With Hip Dysfunction Dysplasia, which now has more than 440 members.
And they have launched a campaign called Hearts for Hip with the hope of raising funds to support families to buy specialist equipment for their children such as specialist car seats and wheelchairs.
To sign their petition, visit http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/55946
