A mum said her 10-month-old son now has to wear a helmet for 23 hours a day after being diagnosed with 'flat head syndrome'.
Donna Marshall said she first spotted something was wrong with her son Zach Davies when he was six-months-old.
The mum-of-three said: "He was very slow to sit up and to help himself especially compared to my other three children and he had this flatness to the side of his head."
Donna took her son to her local GP, in Wirral, however she claims she was told not to be concerned because the condition would correct itself.
However, four months later, Donna said her son is now faced with wearing an orthotic helmet for 23 hours a day, after he was diagnosed with a severe form of the condition.
Donna from Wallasey said: “I just had this gut feeling that he was not going to grow out of it.
"I began to question myself but as a mum you just know.
"He basically has a tightening in his neck muscles which has lead to him only being able to comfortably turn his head one way and he has pain when he turns his neck to the left.
"This means his head shape, ears and eyes are now out of alignment.
“It has misaligned his face with the effect being that his brow is very stuck out, giving him the appearance of having sunken eyes.”
Following a scan Zach was diagnosed with Torticollis, Brachycephaly and Plagiocephaly, which is commonly known as ‘flat head syndrome’.
The common condition is prevalent in newborn children and around one in five babies have some form of head flattening.
However while most babies grow out of the condition others, like Zach, need specialist treatment.
And now his parents face trying to raise £2,000 for the treatment - which is not funded on the NHS - for a helmet that their baby boy needs to wear 23 hours a day, in an attempt to correct the deformity.
The helmet works by applying pressure in order to correct the shape of the head.
Celebrity Chrissy Teigen has used a helmet like this on her and John Legend's son Miles', in order to treat her son's flat head.
Donna, who is a nurse, added: "It will be very noticeable at school, especially as a boy as he cannot grow his hair long to cover it up, he will look very different.
“If the NHS funds dental braces or birthmark removal and the pinning back of ears for the reason that these cosmetic problems can cause psychological issues then surely they should do the same for the shape of somebody's head?”
The NHS do not fund the helmet, with a spokesman for NHS England telling the ECHO: "While there are some specially designed helmets that claim that they can help improve a shape of the skull as it grows, the NHS would not generally recommend them as there is no clear evidence to suggest they work.
"They often cause problems such as skin irritation and rashes and they may be uncomfortable and distressing for your baby."
Donna has now set up a crowd funding page in order to raise the money to pay for the helmet.
To donate click here.
