Cast Life: A Parent's Guide to DDH

Natalie is a freelance writer and blogger who spent the first 15 years of her career as a PR consultant for brands including Cartoon Network, Crowne Plaza, Discovery Channel and T.M.Lewin. In 2013, after a career change to writing, she published an E-book, 'Press Release Writing - An Art Not Rocket Science'. As well as a regular column for Families Magazine, Natalie also writes about DDH, parenting and lifestyle topics for various publications, websites and on her growing lifestyle blog (www.justbecauseilove.co.uk). Natalie lives in Buckinghamshire with her husband and two young sons, Eddie and Lucas. Lucas was born with DDH and spent nearly 18 months in various casts and splints after a late diagnosis at five months, an all too frequent occurrence with this condition. Lucas is now six and faces yet more surgery for DDH in the coming months. As well as publishing Cast Life, Natalie has also set up a UK based charity, Spica Warrior (www.spicawarrior.org), aimed at raising awareness of DDH and helping others who are on their journey. Due to her brilliant work on raising awareness of DDH, Natalie has recently been appointed a member of the International Advisory Board for the International Hip Dysplasia Institute.

AcknowledgementsForewordIntroductionChapter 1: Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip: the factsChapter 2: Dealing with the DDH diagnosisChapter 3: Pavlik harness treatment and careChapter 4: SurgeryChapter 5: Spica castsChapter 6: HospitalChapter 7: Cast lifeChapter 8: Diet and cast lifeChapter 9: Family and relationshipsChapter 10: Life post castChapter 11: LucasChapter 12: Case studiesChapter 13: Equipment and resourcesIndex