WATCH: There are alternatives to surgery in dealing with clubfoot

Karen Mara Moss founded the STEPS Foundation after her son was born with clubfoot and she found a treatment that didn’t need invasive surgery. Picture: Screengrab

Karen Mara Moss founded the STEPS Foundation after her son was born with clubfoot and she found a treatment that didn’t need invasive surgery. Picture: Screengrab

Published Nov 29, 2021

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Cape Town - Karen Mara Moss, the founder and chief executive officer of the STEPS Foundation, was the most recent special guest in a Facebook Live interview on Thursday.

STEPS works to support public healthcare services dealing with clubfoot - a congenital condition in which a baby's foot is twisted out of shape at birth.

Moss sat down to clear up myths and answer questions on the Cape Argus’s Facebook page at 1pm last Thursday.

Her son's birth with clubfoot was the catalyst that prompted Moss to start STEPS which focuses on treating the condition with non-invasive surgery.

STEPS supports 38 partner clinics in the state health sector and has directly trained 693 healthcare professionals in the use of the Ponseti method.

The organisation works in South Africa and supports clubfoot treatment providers in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia.

“We were established in response to the huge need for clubfoot treatment support in Southern Africa.

“Less than 8% of patients have access to health insurance or the means to pay for treatment.

"Since clubfoot is a treatable condition, we had to do something to help children avoid a life of disability. The Ponseti Method was successful with my own child and so I introduced it in southern Africa to try and assist all parents whose children are born with the same condition,” said Moss.

Cape Argus