![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sheffieldwire.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/image-1-1024x754.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nNow nine-years-old, he has received muscular-skeletal and speech therapy throughout his life. The decision is now being made whether he will enter a regular secondary school or one which will provide him with more support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most survivors of perinatal strokes go on to have permanent disabilities, such as cognitive development difficulties or epilepsy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Throughout the whole process, Rebecca has been left confused. She feels as though healthcare providers aren\u2019t equipped with the right information around perinatal strokes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said: \u201cAlthough you get some guidance you don\u2019t get all of the guidance you need, and I feel like that\u2019s down to the fact that not all healthcare providers are readily equipped with the knowledge of neonatal strokes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is something I’ve come across in conversations in both a healthcare setting and during my day-to-day life as people just don\u2019t know that this is something that can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite a lifetime of troubles for her son, Rebecca is left constantly frustrated with people\u2019s lack of awareness around his hidden disabilities, with them often saying \u201che doesn\u2019t look like he\u2019s had a stroke.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said: \u201cHe\u2019s a typical little boy, he loves being messy and gaming, but he also has a lot of difficult days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe struggles with mood swings, especially if he has had difficulty sleeping, which we have been told is as a result of his stroke.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rebecca also said that although Jacob is a loving boy, he has difficulty interacting with people outside his family, adding: \u201cThe stroke has definitely affected him in terms of making friendships.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His mother wants to see that stigma eradicated, and for more awareness to be created around perinatal strokes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said: \u201cIf the information was relayed to me from the start of my pregnancy, I would\u2019ve made a lot of different choices. If I knew the chance of brain injury, not just strokes, was so high in a difficult birth, I would\u2019ve opted for a C-section from the start.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Around 303 babies will suffer a perinatal stroke during their birth this year, completely changing the course of their lives. Their mothers, preparing for one of the happiest occasions of their lives, are living in the dark about the issue that will soon take over their lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Awareness around perinatal strokes needs to improve so that mothers up and down the country can have the knowledge Rebecca was never given. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jacob, suffered a perinatal stroke in the womb during birth. Rebecca, 17 at the time, wouldn\u2019t find this out until much, much later. Now 26, looking back on the traumatic event, she said: \u201cI honestly had no idea a baby could have a stroke.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":46835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1214],"tags":[1223,1221,1222],"class_list":["post-46834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stroke","tag-county-durham","tag-perinatal-stroke","tag-stroke"],"yoast_head":"\n