Devastated Scottish mum ‘cries every night’ as unborn baby has 50/50 chance of survival

A devastated Scottish mum has said she “cries every night” after learning her unborn daughter only has a 50/50 chance of surviving.

Toni McNally, 28, and her husband Ally, 32, found out at their 20 week scan their their child had part of her brain missing. The couple were told at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh that their baby had a condition called micrognathia.

Their baby’s lower jaw is undersized, and this interferes with breathing and feeding. She was also found to have fluid on the brain.

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The hospital said at that stage they couldn’t determine where the fluid was coming from so Toni was asked to come in for weekly scans. At 25 weeks, the parents world was ripped apart when they learned that the fluid was caused by a rare condition, a genesis of the corpus collosom, where part of the baby’s brain was missing.

Speaking to the Daily Record, Toni explained how medics have since continually warned her to prepare for the worst. The brave mum says she thinks she ‘will suffer mentally for the rest of her life’ from the trauma of the past few months.

Toni, from Oakley in Fife, said: “A few weeks after the initial diagnosis I was sent for an MRI and they told us our baby only had a 50/50 chance of survival. They told us that she has a serious gene error, Trisomy 13 or Trisomy 18, which are often life-threatening.

“I have been at the hospital for scans and check ups every week since and they keep telling me that our baby might not survive so to prepare ourselves for this eventuality. It is so much to take in and I’m completely exhausted and emotionally drained from the overload of information about the diagnosis and potential outcomes.

“I am almost 32 weeks pregnant now so for the last three months I have been battling anxiety and depression the whole time. I honestly think I will suffer mentally for the rest of my life due to the trauma from this pregnancy. I cry and worry myself sick everyday at the thought of losing her during my pregnancy before she’s had the chance of fighting for her life.

“After we got the bad news I was signed off work and I have also been referred to a psychologist due to the suffering but we can only hope for the best and are refusing to give up hope.”

Toni is due to have a C-section at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in July and doctors have said if the baby survives she will be admitted for a lengthy stay at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, with mum staying at the Ronald McDonald accommodation to be close to her.

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She says alongside her husband and daughters Ella-Mai, 7, and Skyla McNally, 8, they are all pulling together and drawing strength from and other.

Toni continued: “Our two older daughters have been absolutely incredible. Both are so loving and caring and they are always asking what is happening after every scan.

“It has affected them, though, and they are really upset at not getting to bring their wee sister straight home from the hospital to the house. My husband has been a pillar of strength for me and our girls and is still having to go to work every day to keep the house running. He is always trying to put on a brave face.

“But I can see he is a broken man, he has cried in my arms because he feels so utterly powerless about all of this. We are all struggling but at the same time trying to pull together and take strength from one another.”

The family have created a fundraising page in order to help with the financial cost of travelling up and down to Glasgow after the baby is born. They also hope to renovate one of the rooms in their house for the baby if she ever gets to come home to the family.

Anyone who would like to donate and help the family can do so here.

NHS Lothian and Glasgow have been approached for comment.