Mum has had three strokes triggered by pregnancy leaving her with brain damage and speech difficulties
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A mum suffered three strokes all believed to have been triggered during pregnancy leaving her with brain damage.
Mum-of-three Julie Foster, 30, first realised she suffered a stroke while she was expecting her third child Oliver in 2013.
But after falling pregnant for the fourth time she suffered another stroke in November 2015.
It was then that doctors discovered signs of an older stroke that Julie believes she suffered when she was expecting her second child Grace, seven.
(Photo: SWNS.com)
At the time she put it down to a bad migraine - but a CT scan revealed damage to the brain that appeared to be linked to a previous stroke.
She underwent thrombolysis - where a clot-busting drug acts to return the blood supply to your brain - and spent 10 days in hospital.
She said she initially thought her stroke in March 2013 had been caused by a trapped nerve.
Julie, of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, said: "I had my first stroke in March 2013.
"I woke up one morning and was watching TV with the kids when I looked down and saw I had kicked my leg but couldn't feel it.
(Photo: SWNS.com)
"I knew something wasn't right, so I phoned an ambulance and was taken to Sunderland Royal," she continued.
"When it first happened we thought it might be a trapped nerve, but then the scan came back showing that I had had a stroke.
"It also showed signs of an older stroke, and we think that might have been when I was pregnant with Grace and went temporarily blind in one eye.
"We put it down to a migraine at the time, but now we think it may have been a sign of a stroke."
Having suffered her second stroke in just over two years Julie and husband Stephen took the difficult decision to terminate her pregnancy with her fourth child.
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The third stroke meant she was left with no use in her right arm and both her memory and hearing were affected.
While she managed to return home within three months, the stroke has affected her speech and movement and she needs looking after full-time by husband Stephen.
Her husband, 35, said: "It was 2.30pm in the afternoon and she had gone upstairs to have a lie down because she had a headache.
"I just heard a loud bang and when I went up to see if she was all right she was on top of the stairs leaning into the bannister.
"I knew straight away she had had a stroke.
"I picked her up and laid her on the bed and called an ambulance.
(Photo: SWNS.com)
"At the hospital she was given thrombolysis again, which saved her life, but six day later we made the hard decision to terminate the pregnancy at five months, as it was too great a risk to Julie's health to continue with it."
Peter Moore, regional director for the Stroke Association in the North East, said: "A stroke happens in an instant and often changes lives forever.
"Our regional event highlights the tremendous courage local people like Julie have shown in rebuilding their lives after a stroke, or in helping others to do the same."
Stephen Foster said Julie is believed to suffer from Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) which is an immune system disorder that causes an increased risk of blood clots.
He said while blood tests for the condition have come back negative doctors are 90 per cent sure she has the condition.
He added that consultants have also told Julie that her pregnancies triggered the strokes.
Stephen, who gave up his IT firm to look after Julie full-time, said they didn't know she was pregnant when she suffered her first stroke in 2013.
(Photo: SWNS.com)
He said: "We didn't know she was pregnant when she had the first stroke, because she could have only been 10 days or two weeks gone.
"She spent 10 days in hospital and then about 10 days after that we found out she was pregnant with Oliver.
"We didn't know what to do but Julie decided to wanted to carry on with the pregnancy."
Oliver was later born in November 2013.
By May 2015 Julie had made a 95 per cent recovery and in August the couple found out she was pregnant with their fourth child.
But in October while Julie, who used to work as a nursery nurse, was in hospital having a scan she had a medical episode that lasted 20 to 30 minutes.
Doctors said there were no signs it was a stroke or a transient ischaemic attack (TIA) and Julie was sent home.
Yet a month later she suffered a devastating stroke that wiped out 35 per cent of the left side of her brain.
It also meant they were forced into taking the heartbreaking decision to end the pregnancy.
Stephen said: "But unfortunately we had to terminate the pregnancy six days after she had the stroke.
"She didn't walk again until Christmas, but she was determined to come home and she really fought to be with the family on Christmas Day.
"All these strokes have also meant she was diagnosed with epilepsy in August.
"She has suffered migraines throughout her life but they couldn't tell what was the matter with her when she was longer.
"It must have been the APS as a lot of people are not diagnosed properly."