My newborn needs help

When Andrea (cl-reagiles) learned that her newborn daughter's hips were dislocated, it felt like the end of the world

I panicked when I heard the news, but I was inconsolable when my baby was immediately put into a Pavlik Harness. The harness was designed to hold her legs in a certain way so that when she kicked the top of her legs formed the hip sockets. It went over her shoulders, around her chest and had stirrups that went down her legs and over her feet to hold her legs in the 'frog leg' position.

She looked so fragile and small, but she didn't really pay it much attention. It affected me more than her. I wouldn't go to my antenatal group reunion because I didn't want to see the other mothers and their 'perfect' babies or to have to answer questions about the harness.

Luckily the weather was nice and Rori could wear dresses, which hid most of the harness. When we did leave the house, I was surprised by how many people knew the reason for the harness, or knew someone whose child had one. It was a lot more common than I realised.

I'm British but I've lived in Jamaica for two and a half years. I'd come back to the UK to have Aurora, leaving Neil, my partner, at home. I only expected to be away for eight weeks but my trip back to Jamaica was delayed indefinitely as I tried to cope with this new crisis.