A woman with a rare “brain on fire” disease refuses to recognize her newborn daughter as her own (6 photos)

Motherhood is perhaps the greatest happiness for a woman. But Becky Prout from Doncaster (Britain) is not destined to feel it, although she recently gave birth to a baby.





On July 22, 2023, a 31-year-old woman and her husband, Chad Maling, were having dinner at a restaurant. Becky was six months pregnant at the time. Suddenly, the expectant mother began to behave strangely. Chad later said that it was as if in front of him was not his beloved woman, but a completely different person - an American accent, strange comments about dishes, and not entirely adequate behavior.



Happy couple

Over the course of several days, Prout's condition only worsened. When the woman started having convulsions, her husband called an ambulance. To alleviate the condition and find out the reasons, doctors put the patient into an artificial coma. And they found out that the patient suffers from an acute and extremely rare form of encephalitis (there are hardly a few dozen similar cases of anti-NMDAR encephalitis, which is called “brain on fire,” in the world).



In such patients, there is a violation of the innervation of the brain, which provokes aggression, delirium, hallucinations, convulsions, and speech disorders. A couple of weeks after hospitalization, the doctors decided to perform a cesarean section on the patient for medical reasons. The MRI results showed the presence of an ovarian cyst, which could have triggered the process - the body activated the immune system, which also affected brain function. The formation was removed.



Becky waiting for a miracle

There were also problems with the baby: the child’s bladder was blocked, and almost two liters of fluid were pumped out of the girl’s body. A month after the birth of her daughter, Becky came to her senses. But the disease left too serious an imprint on the personality. She can hug little Maya, calling her the best baby in the world. And five minutes later she demonstrates complete indifference, claiming that this is not her child.



A woman recognizes her daughter after a while

Doctors are cautious in their forecasts and say that recovery is possible. But this is a long process that can take up to five years. The trial of life greatly upset my father, but did not break him. The man put aside his business projects, rented an apartment near the hospital and devotes all his time to his child and wife. The story of this couple clearly proves that life can change literally in one moment. And everyone makes their choice regarding life’s trials in accordance with their own moral principles.



there is hope