My newborn baby had a football-sized head – after a traumatic birth they removed 60% of his skull

A MUM has told how her son was born with a ‘football-sized’ head and had to undergo a gruelling surgery to have 60 per cent of his skull removed. Noah Baker, 1, was born with severe hydrocephalus – a build-up of fluid in the brain – and his skull measured a shocking 26 inches when he was born, equivalent to the size of a football. Noah Baker was born with hydrocephalus, leaving him with a ‘football-sized’ skull Credit: Kennedy Newsand Media His mum, Madison, was given the news of her son’s condition when she was just four months pregnant Credit: Kennedy Newsand Media The average head circumference at birth is 13.5 inches for boys, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), meaning his head was twice its natural size. His mum Madison, 28, was given the heartbreaking news of his condition when she was just four months pregnant. Sign up for the Health newsletter Thank you! Noah was born in March 2025 and had to undergo his first brain surgery at just two weeks old to have tubes fitted to drain away the excess fluid in his brain. Speaking about the ordeal, Madison, from Nashville, Tennessee, said: “It was a shock when we were given Noah’s diagnosis because we’d had two other pregnancies and never had any issues, so it was definitely unexpected. “We had a very traumatic birth. They took him immediately so I never got to hold him when he was first born, they took him straight to NICU.” It’s not clear how the mum delivered baby Noah. Since his first brain surgery at just two-weeks old, Noah has had five more surgeries to address his condition, Madison said. Hydrocephalus is a build-up of fluid in the brain and if left untreated, it can be fatal, the NHS says. Most read in Health Noah had his first brain surgery at just two weeks old to have tubes fitted to drain the excess fluid Credit: Kennedy Newsand Media Since his first brain surgery, Noah has had to have five more to help manage his condition Credit: Kennedy Newsand Media It can be present at birth, or develop after birth and in older people. The excess fluid puts pressure on the brain which can damage it and lead to headaches, being sick, blurred vision or difficulty walking. The condition can also lead to long-term complications such as learning disabilities, speech and memory problems and epilepsy. According to Madison, Noah’s skull was so big that he was unable to lift his own head or sit up on his own. The boy’s most recent surgery in May 2026 – a cranial reduction – saw 60 per cent of his skull removed to “bring it down to a more appropriate size”. The surgery was done for developmental, rather than aesthetic reasons, and will give Noah the best chance at being able to lift his head and move around independently. Madison, a mum-of-three explained: “Because he has so much extra fluid, the skull developed at a much larger size, which isn’t super typical for this condition. Noah had a cranial reduction in May, which removed 60 per cent of his skull Credit: Kennedy Newsand Media Doctors hope that the surgery will now allow Noah to lift his head on his own Credit: Kennedy Newsand Media “The hope with the reduction is that hopefully now he’ll be able to progress developmentally with those sorts of things. “The surgeon was pretty straight forward that he wouldn’t have been able to lift his head without it and he wouldn’t have been able to eat solid food.” But despite this life-changing surgery, the mum said she misses Noah’s large head. She said: “I miss his big noggin – we just got used to it because when he was first born his head was already so large. “It was always very large in circumference so we just got kind of used to it. “It’s definitely been different but you can tell that he feels lighter, you can tell that he feels a lot better having so much of his skull reduced. Madison says she now misses Noah’s “big noggin” as she had got very used to it Credit: Kennedy Newsand Media What is hydrocephalus? Hydrocephalus is a build-up of fluid in the brain. The excess fluid puts pressure on the brain, which can damage it. If left untreated, hydrocephalus can be fatal. The damage to the brain from hydrocephalus can cause a wide range of symptoms, including: headache being sick blurred vision difficulty walking There are 3 main types of hydrocephalus: congenital hydrocephalus – hydrocephalus that’s present at birth acquired hydrocephalus – hydrocephalus that develops after birth normal pressure hydrocephalus – usually only develops in older people Hydrocephalus present at birth can cause several long-term complications, such as: learning disabilities speech problems memory problems short attention span problems with organisational skills vision problems, such as a squint and vision loss problems with physical coordination epilepsy Source: NHS “He looks really great, we miss it but we’re glad that we did it still because it definitely needed to be done. “It will give him the best opportunity to be the best version of himself and give him all the chances that we can.” While the surgeries Noah has already had have helped to manage his hydrocephalus, it’s something his family will have to continue to monitor for the rest of his life. Madison said: “All the things that we’ve done have helped but he’ll always have hydrocephalus so he’ll always have the tubing and it will always be something that we have to watch. “He’s not able to lift his head up on his own yet – we’re still working and obviously he has lots of therapy. “Physical therapy and occupational therapy are very involved so that we can really work on that.” Comment now