A LEADING Southampton children’s surgeon has warned that a revival of tightly swaddling babies is causing an alarming rise in hip problems.

Professor Nicholas Clarke said mothers were increasingly adopting the “eradicated” and “unsafe” practice of tightly wrapping babies in blankets to keep them warm and help them sleep.

The consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Southampton General Hospital said the forcible straightening of babies’ legs was leading to more cases of hip abnormalities and he is now calling for the relaunch of an awareness campaign to address the problems.

Professor Clarke last year raised concerns over the return of a Victorian disease when he revealed one in five children assessed in his clinic for bone problems were suffering from the bone disease rickets due to vitamin D deficiency.

Up to 100 babies are screened at Southampton General Hospital’s hip clinic every week – around one in every 20 full-term babies has some level of instability – and swaddling-related incidents are increasing.

He said its revival was being driven by swaddlers being advertised on the Internet that tightly wrap babies.

“For the hips, that is exactly what you don’t want to happen,” Prof Clarke said.

He said baby’s hips are loosened by their mothers’ hormones which relax ligaments during birth. But forcibly straightening the legs within the first three to four months of life means babies who would otherwise recover naturally are unable to freely flex and strengthen weakened joints.

Treatment, which involves fitting a harness to keep the legs bent up day and night for six weeks, is successful in 85 per cent of babies, but some will suffer permanent damage requiring surgery.

Although keen not to discourage safe techniques, Prof Clarke said parents are no longer distinguishing between what is right and what presents a danger.

“I advocate swaddling in the right and safe way, which means ensuring babies are not rigidly wrapped but have enough room to bend their legs – they don’t need to have their legs straightened as there is plenty of time to stretch before they start to walk,” he said.

“But, and this is worrying the orthopaedic community, it seems to be increasingly fashionable among parents to follow the re-emerging trend of tight swaddling.”

Prof Clarke added: “We need to ensure the years of effort made by thousands of clinicians across the world to drive out tight swaddling is not unravelled in a matter of months.”