Mum’s the word: Supporting the whole family

Even the neurosurgeon didn’t know whether the baby would survive.

A stroke when she was four months pregnant put both the lives of 29-year-old Brianna Magdalena and her unborn daughter in danger.

A fit young woman who went to gym daily, Brianna was planning a wedding to her fiancé Jonathon in June last year.

But one night in April, she felt a “big bang” in her head and lost movement to her left side. Jonathan called an ambulance and she was rushed to hospital.

Brianna suffered an Arteriovenous malformation (AVM) stroke.

“I had malformed blood vessels in her head that were a ticking time bomb waiting to rupture that I obviously didn’t know about,” she said.

“And then one day that ruptures and that just happened to be when I was 17 weeks pregnant.”

“ I was in a coma for about two to three weeks, then woke up and spent another month in the neuro ward, then I spent 10 months in rehab.”

Against all odds, Brianna and her baby, Mahali, which means tender one in Hebrew, survived.

“I grew Mahali on my back for five months - she survived, she kept growing,” Brianna said.

“Even my neurosurgeon said ‘I don’t know how you both survived’.”

After almost a year, Brianna was finally able to leave hospital and move into Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) with her fiancé and daughter as her previous home was not wheelchair accessible.

“Jonathon raised her (Mahali) for six months alone and he’d bring her into the hospital every day to see me,” Brianna said

“We’re blessed she’s very healthy and a good baby.”

For Brianna disability support which she has received through InLife meant assistance for herself but also with being a new mother.

“I think disability is one aspect and being supported in motherhood is another respect completely and while they work in tandem with each other, they’re separate,” she said.

“It’s hard being a one-handed mother, I can’t change nappies and stuff so I need to have someone to always help me with these things or pick her up and put her on my lap if she’s crying,”

“They (support workers) play an integral role.”

Brianna said it was all about getting the right people on her team.

“I think it’s less now about supporting me, it’s about supporting our family.”

“Because it’s not just me, 80 percent is helping me with Mahali - we’re a bit of a package.

“InLife has been really good and easy to deal with. They've been pretty understanding in hearing what I need. They are good communicators.”

And as Mahali crawls around the floor on the cusp of walking, her mum is also slowly improving her mobility as well.

“I got my first muscle back on Christmas day which was my groin muscle, so my leg is coming along. My first goal is getting out of the chair and walking because that’s so important to me,” she said.

“Just a little while ago I started to get a little movement in my arm, it can’t move but the muscles are turning back on.”