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'My baby suffered a stroke when he was just one day old'

By Naomi White|

When baby Donald was born last year, his parents could not have been happier.

Their firstborn had arrived healthy and seemingly thriving. But just 24 hours later their son suffered a life-threatening condition most often associated with those his grandparents' age: a stroke.

Shockingly, Donald's story is not uncommon, with perinatal strokes affecting approximately one in every 4,000 live births.

For his worried parents Olivia and Kyle Dolan-Roth, from Ipswich in Queensland, the seizure Kyle noticed his newborn having marked the start of a long journey the couple hope to help others avoid, by sharing their story to raise awareness.

Olivia, 24, said what made it even more of a shock for the pair is that for Donald, the stroke appeared to have been "completely random", and likely resulted from a blood clot.

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Donald Dolan-Roth suffered a stroke soon after he was born. (Supplied)

"It wasn't until that first night that we noticed anything was wrong. Kyle noticed he was having (what looked like) a seizure and we weren't really sure what was happening, we thought a seizure just didn't make sense in a newborn," Olivia told 9Honey Parenting.

"We called the nurses in, but he'd stopped twitching. They said to press the emergency button if it happened again. When he had another one they sent him straight to the intensive care nursery."

"He had an MRI within the first few days and that's when we saw the brain damage and they knew that a stroke had caused it. It's the first I'd heard about strokes in babies. I'd thought they were mainly in older people."

Donald spent the two weeks in hospital, continuing to experience seizures for the next few days and had to be ventilated after he briefly stopped breathing at one point.

Soon, however, he was transferred into the special care nursery, where the couple would travel from Ipswitch to the Mater Mothers' Hospital in Brisbane to be with him.

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Now 18 months, Donald Dolan-Roth is recovering well (Supplied)

"I don't think I realised at the time it was as serious as it was," Olivia said. "All the doctors were very calming and reassuring, we trusted them that everything going to be alright. I didn't realise until after quite how bad it could have been."

"I had no idea babies could have a stroke while in the womb or soon after being born, and I wasn't sure Donald was going to make it," she adds.

Now 18-months-old and a busy toddler, Donald is kicking all his milestone goals, albeit at a slower pace. Olivia attributes much of his success to the therapies they sought early on, especially physiotherapy.

He is enjoying being a big brother to their newborn son Herbert and Olivia says if you met him today you wouldn't know he'd had a stroke.

"He's been doing well, much better than we expected him to do. He's a bit behind in reaching some milestones, but he hits them all eventually. He loves cars and chasing our dog around the house, just normal toddler things!"

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Olivia and Kyle Dolan-Roth with their sons Donald (right) and Herbert (Supplied)

According to the Child Neurology Foundation, strokes can happen both in utero and shortly after birth (commonly 12-24 hours after delivery). They result from blocked blood vessels in the brain, such as blood clots, and are a common cause of cerebral palsy.

Seizures are often the first indication of a stroke, however it can sometimes be months before it's detected. They often result in long-term neurological damage, such as weakness on one side of the body, cognitive and learning challenges, language disorders and vision problems. Epilepsy is another common resulting complication.

Mater Mothers' Hospital Director of Neonatology Dr Pita Birch said unlike in adults, a baby's brain can often compensate for some of the damage, as it's still developing.

"The injury to the brain can lead to cerebral palsy, however, unlike adults who have strokes, the brains of babies are still developing and have an element of plasticity," Dr Birch said.

"This means that they can use the other side or unaffected part of the brain to take over tasks so that the disability is minimised. Despite this, there are a large number of babies who have cerebral palsy and occasionally intellectual or behavioural disabilities. Epilepsy during childhood is also common."

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