A week after Eloise was born, her mum, Claire Lewin noticed a small red rash behind her left ear.
Claire showed it to the midwife, who said it was nothing serious and that it would go away. But it didn’t and, within a couple of weeks, it had grown into the size of a 'bright red golf ball'. It was diagnosed as a haemangioma, a collection of tiny blood vessels that produce a raised mark on the skin.
At six weeks old, Eloise was put on a course of steroids, which she continued for seven months. She also had an MRI scan to make sure the haemangioma was not growing internally, which could have affected her breathing or hearing.
Claire, who lives in Sunderland with husband Barry, says she initially struggled to deal with Eloise’s condition. “It was awful,” she says “I wanted her to be perfect.”
Claire slowly gained confidence and began to come to terms with her child's condition from speaking to other parents with similar experiences. Her advice to parents is to research their child's condition and contact support groups.
"Don’t be afraid to take your child out. Your child is perfect. They may be different, but they’re beautiful.”
The stares
The stares were the hardest to manage. “People can be so ignorant,” she says. The stares started to make Eloise uncomfortable, even though she was too young to understand why people were looking. “I’d tell her, ‘They’re looking at you because you’re beautiful’,” says Claire.
One woman stared so hard she nearly walked into a lamppost. “She felt embarrassed that I’d noticed her,” says Claire.
Once, on a bus, a drunken man sat next to them. “He noticed Eloise and said, ‘Eurgh, what’s that?’ and poked his finger in her face.”
Claire hid her outrage. “I didn’t want to cause a scene and the man was drunk,” she says, “but I was upset that no one on the bus intervened.”
'Not alone'
Although she has got used to Eloise’s appearance, Claire hasn’t got used to the stares. “When I see people staring, I stare back and I say, ‘It’s not nice to be stared at, is it?’”
There were times when Claire felt low and didn’t want to leave the house. “But I realised it wasn't doing Eloise any good because she could feel my negativity,” she says.
She gained strength from researching her daughter’s condition on the internet, talking online to parents with similar experiences and talking to the Birthmark Support Group.
“It’s nice to get feedback from other parents who’ve gone through the same experience. Talking about it helps.”
When Eloise reached nine months, the haemangioma started to stabilise, and by 21 months, it was shrinking. Surgeons are waiting to see how far it will recede before operating.
Eloise has been shown photos of other children with birthmarks to show her that she’s not alone. “She calls it her ‘Hemy’,” says Claire.
The toddler is still too young to be self-conscious about her birthmark. “It doesn’t bother her,” says Claire. “She doesn’t understand what it is at her age.”
Claire no longer feels the need to cover Eloise’s face in public. “Her birthmark is a part of who she is, and to me, she’s beautiful,” she says.
