Only 1 in 5 parents know why babies should have their heads measured

Research has revealed only 1 in 5 parents knows that measuring a baby's head circumference in the first year of life can help to identify life threatening brain conditions.

Bounty surveyed 750 new parents on behalf of Harry's Hydrocephalus Awareness Trust and also found almost half (45%) were unaware that their baby's head should be measured at birth. Rapid or slow head growth can be an indicator of a health condition that requires further investigation by a specialist.

It comes as we continue pushing the GET-A-HEAD campaign, calling for improvements to baby health care in England to prevent the late diagnosis of life-threatening conditions.

We're asking the government to provide families with more contact from health professionals in a child's first year, as well as pushing for better communication about why routine checks are performed. The aim is to end the post code lottery of support that’s currently provided across England.

Cathy Tabner is the lead for parent information at My Expert Midwife and is recommending that more information should be passed to parents about the importance of baby head measurements:

"Things are slipping through the cracks and hydrocephalus is not on anyone's radar and it needs to be on the radar a little bit more. Head circumference is such a cheap and easy measurement to do, it costs nothing and takes moments. A paper tape measure is all you need."

When an infant has hydrocephalus, it means there’s a dangerous build-up of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain which can’t drain away by itself. It causes intercranial pressure in the skull and, if left untreated, it can cause brain damage and be fatal. It's estimated around 1 in 770 babies will develop the condition.

One of the key symptoms is a rapidly growing head, but it often presents alongside several other symptoms including, but not limited to: vomiting, unsettledness, sleepiness, poor feeding, a shiny scalp with visible veins, eyes that gaze downwards, and a regression in the baby’s skills.

Cathy continued, "I'd love to think we could get it more on people's radar because it's so impactful if it's missed. You can sometimes catch up with the detrimental damage done by hydrocephalus, but it would be so much better to see it coming and catch it in the early stages. Isn't that what we're supposed to be doing, aren't we supposed to be monitoring?

"We've taken our eye off the ball really, we need to get it back front and centre. It's an important parameter, it's something that needs picking up early and it shouldn't be missed. We need to empower parents to say 'Doctor, I think you've forgotten to do the head circumference', because it's fine to remind someone, all health professionals are overloaded."

Most babies born in the UK have heads that appear large when plotted on the World Health Organisation growth chart inside The Red Book. In fact, the average baby’s head will sit somewhere between the 75th-91st centiles.

It’s not necessarily about where your baby’s head measurement plots on the graph to begin with, it’s about monitoring head size over time for any sudden jumps up or down on the chart. It’s why it’s so important to make sure the measurement is taken initially by a midwife, so you have a baseline number to work from.

Cathy Tabner will be speaking at The Baby Show events across the country this year, offering advice to parents about birth, breastfeeding and parenting hacks.

The event takes place at Manchester Central this weekend, between 14th-16th April.

It's in Birmingham 12th-14th May.

You can hear the latest news on Kerrang! Radio.

• hydrocephalus