Strokes can happen to anyone at any age, even in-utero

In June 2007, Christine Bracaglia gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.  After 36 hours of prolonged posterior labour which finally resulted in an emergency C section, Christine was just happy to know that her baby was safe and healthy. But after baby Gabriella cried through her first night, the doctors decided to run some tests. An ultrasound showed blood pools on the baby’s brain, and it was determined later at Children’s Hospital, that she had suffered a stroke in-utero.

Thirty-five per cent of in-utero strokes are unexplained. Gabriella’s stroke was originally thought to be a malformation of a ventricle in her brain which caused a blood clot, but that explanation has not been confirmed. 

Gabriella spent her first 19 days of life at Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.  After her first MRI, the neurologist told Christine that Gabi would possibly never sit, walk, see, hear, think and/or problem solve. The staff at Children’s Hospital was incredibly helpful and supportive.  “We were accompanied by the most amazing team of specialists you could imagine.  To this day I am still overwhelmed with gratitude for the help received by the individuals who joined us during this part of our journey,” says Christine.

Since leaving Children’s Hospital, Christine’s life has been a whirlwind of appointments, physiotherapy meetings, drop-in's with the Infant Development Program, and trips back and forth to Children’s Hospital for meetings with specialists. She has also spent a good majority of her free time researching rehabilitation strategies and philosophies to help her daughter.

Although Christine has received a lot of help from various organizations, in-utero strokes and strokes in children as a whole is a topic where very little research has been done due to lack of awareness and adequate funding.

When Gabriella was five months old, Christine was busy making a five year plan to ensure that her daughter received the best therapies and treatments possible. It was a difficult time, as Christine tried to be an easy going, fun loving mom, while at the same time be as proactive in her daughter’s care as possible.

After Gabriella’s initial MRI, Christine prepared to care for a severely disabled child. After a visit with the neurologist at the age of ten months, Gabriella and Christine’s lives had a much different outlook.

The neurologist told Christine, “I wish I could take back some of what I said after Gabriella’s first MRI.”

“If I could bronze words, this quote would be shinning bright in every room of my house! This was huge considering the information we received in the past,” says Christine.

He continued to say that today’s MRIs are so advanced that sometimes they show things that may not be of any significance to the individual and/or their potential outcome. He also said that if he were to bring in all the neurologists to visually assess Gabriella to determine which side of her brain was affected by the stroke (considered a moderate sized stroke) he guessed the outcome would be 50/50, as he could barely tell himself. The neurologist did not suggest any specific recovery treatments and said whatever Christine was doing was working so she should keep it up.

So the daughter that was not supposed to sit, walk, see, hear or possibly think and problem solve can now sit, crawl, pull to stand, say Dada and Dog with meaning, sign many words, imitate and so much more.

It has been a long and enlightening journey for Christine. She hopes that with more awareness of in-utero strokes, there can be more research, support for parents and consistent treatment plans for survivors. 

Christine has two pieces of advice for parents. Firstly, “Follow your instincts. If you think your child is not developing as he/she should be, there is no harm in going to the doctor. Early diagnosis of a stroke, for the survivor, is extremely crucial to recovery,” she says.

Secondly, “For parents of children who’ve experienced a stroke, it may take weeks, months or years to overcome the emotional roller-coaster you are on after finding out your child has had a stroke. I honestly can’t say how long as I am still on that roller-coaster, but I can tell you that it does get easier. Your ability to deal with the situation at hand is almost as resilient as your amazing child’s strength and will to recover. Take care of yourself as you need to be at “your best” in order to be the best parent for your child. Always do what you feel is right for your child and yourself.  Enjoy every minute with your newborn because they grow so quickly. And finally, keep your awareness in focus and remember that all children need lots of love, as well as playtime and fun to learn. That is an important part of development as well.”

And no matter what, Christine reminds parents to stay positive because things will get better with time.

“I am so glad we have approached Gabi's recovery in a proactive, semi-aggressive manner. I know there will be much more work ahead but for the time being I am feeling so motivated and proud of our little girl,” says Christine who follows her own advice and always stays positive.

Follow up - The resilience of the infant brain