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The Untold: Holding the Baby

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The Man the Lions Love to Hate

16/01/2017

Holding the Baby

BBC Radio 4 - The Untold, Holding the Baby

Charlotte really wants a baby, but her epilepsy means pregnancy is fraught with problems.

Series documenting the untold dramas of 21st-century Britain. Charlotte hopes for a baby, but she has epilepsy and pregnancy is fraught with difficulties.

Charlotte and husband Ian really want a baby, but she has epilepsy and pregnancy is likely to be fraught with difficulties. There is a balancing act between drugs that will keep Charlotte seizure-free but can pose risks to her unborn child. And if all goes well, then even after the birth, Charlotte has been advised that she will need to be careful: she's been told it's best she doesn't hold her baby when she's alone. For example, she should feed the baby on the floor and when she needs to go upstairs, carry her baby up and down in a secure car-seat. Even the pram she's going to use has a dead-man's brake, in case she has a seizure while out and about. 

Charlotte has had epilepsy since she was eleven years old, and her seizures meant she had to leave University and has been unable to hold down a job. But Charlotte is determined to have a baby, and says: ' I won't let epilepsy take away my chance to be a mother.'

Producer in Bristol: Sara Conkey.

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Factual: Life Stories

A series documenting the untold dramas of 21st-century Britain.

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