My baby Baejavan Ernest Vigknaa was born premature on the 26 July 2011, due to being diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, which is a pregnancy desease ‘failure of the womb to support the baby’, 3 months prior to the due date. Although he was born prematurely and was so tiny, he had a beautifully round shaped head.

However, because of his premature birth, he was under intensive care within neo-natal departments, first in Royal Bolton hospital then at Burnley General, after several weeks when the transfer was safe to attempt from Bolton as he became strong enough.

Due to the failure of my womb much earlier in the pregnancy, my baby was deprived of nutrients, he was ½ the weight he should have been at 27weeks gestation – weighing just 1lb 7oz at birth by C-section.  The reason for the C-section is that, by the time of 27 weeks gestation I had full blown pre-eclampsia and I was given 49hrs before mine and my baby’s lives could have been lost. He remained in  neonatal intensive care unit with life support system attached to him for over 3 months until  24 October 2011. From where he was then discharged, and now at home with his sibling and us. He still remains on an oxygen support system to help him breath. But that isn’t the end of his afflictions; he has extremely troublesome colic, which makes him suffer every single time he feeds and on the top of that he has hernia and is on a waiting list with Manchester Children’s hospital to have the operation to correct this condition.

Unfortunately, on top of all these he has been diagnosed with Plagiocephaly. This is also known as flat head syndrome. This wasn’t caused by his premature birth, but due to his soft skull (softer than full term babies) in the intensive care unit his cares neglected to turn his head every so often. He was laid on one side for a prolonged period with his head turned to one side. Hence he has developed Plagiocephaly which is very severe. This has caused his ears to drop and if not treated will drop his jaw to one side and cause his mouth swing to one side every time he tries to talk. Despite my husband and my effort to trying to keep his head to the opposite side, the damage is so severe that his head is uneven, flat and misshapen (see photo).

Now at his gestation age of 8 weeks old, Baejavan is trying to lift his head by himself, but not been able to withhold the uneven weight distribution due to how mis-shaped his head has become he is already struggling with basic movement way more than a baby at his age would without this condition. Because the balance, weight and shape of his head is more to one side, his neck topples and drifts to the side where more weight of his head is present.

If this condition is not treated sooner, there is more serious problems which can occur as he develops. His brain functions will suffer, where other kids will take it for granted. He will not be able to balance walking properly or ride bikes etc. furthermore it will affect him emotionally by bullying at school or when reaching adult hood will affect his choice of life. 

But, thankfully this condition is treatable and available for my baby. All he needs is a specially made medical helmet known as a STARband just for him for his head size. The two sections of this helmet are adjusted with assessment of his progression, once every two weeks. The STARband will gradually and gently corrects the shape of his head which he will have to wear for 23hrs out of the 24hr day and at the end of 6-8 month treatment program, my baby's head will be more symmetrical and well-proportioned, which will turn his life around. 

He requires this treatment now as his 8weeks old skull is not yet closed and the ‘crown’ is still open and this means it will not take as long to get better. As he receives treatment now his skull is soft enough to remould into symmetrical shape quickley.

  

Unfortunately this treatment is not available on the NHS so we need to raise £2000  for treatment at a private clinic in leedshttp://steeperclinic.com/?gclid=CKyPwvTFwa0CFUJItAodgEC8Ag. 

 This is not including the fuel cost to clinic every 2 weeks, which will be 116 mile round trip each time. Thank you very much for taking the time to visit my JustGiving for Baejavan Ernest Vigknaa's page.

 

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most effective way to donate . 

So please dig deep and donate as much as you can now. Thank you.