You may not have realized this until you were in the delivery room, but a lot of babies aren’t born with a round head.
This happens because newborns’ heads are made out of soft, flexible bones with spaces between them.
During birth, these bones are able to squeeze together to change the shape of your baby’s head to make it easier for it to fit through the birth canal.
This is a temporary condition that should resolve on its own in a few days. It’s not harmful, though it may have been alarming if you weren’t expecting it.
In this article, we’re going to go over the types of birth injuries that can cause cranial molding in infants and what your baby’s skull goes through during the birth process.
Birth Injuries That Can Cause a Misshapen Head
The following conditions are two of the most common reasons newborns are born with oddly shaped heads. In most cases, these conditions will resolve on their own.
Caput Succedaneum
Caput succedaneum is a condition that occurs when fluid collects between your baby’s scalp and their skull.
It usually looks like a puffy, swollen area on the top or side of a newborn’s head, and in some cases, the baby may also have to bruise on their head or face.
Caput succedaneum can be caused by the normal trauma a baby’s body goes through as it’s being squeezed through the birth canal.
It can also be caused by a doctor’s mistake. You can learn more about caput succedaneum causes here.
If caput succedaneum is the reason behind your baby’s misshapen head, you can expect it to go away in a few days.
Cephalohematoma
A cephalohematoma happens when blood collects or a blood clot forms between your baby’s scalp and their skull.
This is also caused by pressure while passing through the birth canal and birth injuries, but it usually does not cause bruising.
If you see around, the solid bump on your baby’s head, it might be a cephalohematoma.
This bump can appear at birth, but it also may not be visible until days later. This condition also usually clears up on its own, though it may take days or even weeks for it to do so.
| Read also: Types of Birth Defects and Their Causes |
Why Your Newborn’s Head Is Not Round
A baby’s body goes through a lot on its way through the birth canal. Even when everything goes smoothly, the baby will be squeezed, and the part of the head that presents first can be damaged from the pressure.
When something goes wrong, babies can end up with head injuries, broken bones, and brain damage.
If your baby’s head isn’t round, it does not mean the infant has sustained brain damage. It may simply be the normal result of long labor that resulted in a vaginal delivery.
Damage to a baby’s brain is not something you can see from the outside, though conditions that cause a baby’s head to be misshapen can also be associated with other factors that do cause brain damage.
This may be the case if your baby was guided through the birth canal through the use of forceps or vacuum extraction.
The use of these instruments during delivery can save an infant’s life. They can also cause the baby to be born with an oddly shaped head.
In cases where the doctor applies excessive force, these instruments can also cause brain damage.
If your baby is born with a misshapen head, your doctor will evaluate the baby at the hospital to make sure there are no associated conditions.
In most cases, before you know it, your baby will have the round head you were expecting.
About The Author:
Carla Smith is the founder of SafeandHealthyLife.com. Her main objective is to provide informative articles, reviews, and analysis of health & fitness topics to her readers that help them to make their life easier and happier. Connect with her on Twitter.
