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The joy of being pregnant should have been the happiest time of their lives for Newry couple Cliobhna Brown and Jay Kelly, but instead Cliobhna, 25, found herself diagnosed with a condition that could have caused her to lose her vision were it not for visiting her local optometrist in Newry.
“I was 26 weeks pregnant, and I had been getting headaches and experiencing blurriness, dots and patterns in my vision. It hadn’t been the easiest of pregnancies already. Luca is my first baby, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, I’m not sure anybody does, but I could’ve easily dismissed my symptoms.”
“It was January 2025 and I was due an eye test in May, but one day I woke up and the blurriness was in both eyes, so I thought it might be best to bring that checkup forward, and I am so glad that I did, even though the days after were the worst of my life.”
Cliobhna spoke with the team at Specsavers in the Buttercrane in Newry who were able to slot her in for an emergency appointment with Kerri Rafferty, who is a partner of the locally owned and run practice. Due to the symptoms she was presenting with, Kerri gave Cliobhna an Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) scan.
Kerri explains; “An OCT scan is readily available at our Newry store for all of our customers aged 25 or over. It allows us to take a 3D scan of the back of the eye to spot any serious conditions. As soon as the scan came through for Cliobhna, I knew we had an emergency on our hands, especially with her being more than half way through her pregnancy. There was a buildup of fluid behind her eye causing pressure, which was why she was experiencing headaches and affected vision. If the optic nerve continued to be compressed, it could’ve caused permanent damage or blindness.
“I wanted to rule out possible preeclampsia and to get Cliobhna to the Royal Victoria Hospital immediately, so I referred her and they made an appointment for her to come in the next day for more scans and tests.”
“That was one of the worst days of my life”, says Cliobhna. “Kerri and the team in-store had kept me calm and was brilliant in getting me referred so quickly, but I was obviously worried for me and my baby, but I still wasn’t aware of how serious this could all turn out to be.”
After the tests and additional scans at The Royal, Cliobhna says “everything moved very quickly. I got an ultrasound on my eyes, which I didn’t even know was possible, then had to get a CT scan. All I could think was ‘is this safe for the baby?’ but the radiologist was fantastic at reassuring me.”
After the CT scan, Cliobhna met with the team in Neurology who diagnosed Idiopathic Intercranial Hypertension as thankfully, they couldn’t see any tumours or blood clots present behind the eye. “I had never heard of that before”, says Cliobhna, “they explained that it can happen for no reason but it’s likely my pregnancy had caused the excessive fluid to build up behind my eye and they needed to do a Lumbar Puncture to drain the fluid.
“I wouldn’t wish that experience on my worst enemy. Not only was it horrifically painful, but I was so worried about my baby, I actually thought that I was going into early labour the pain was so extreme. Not to mention the acute migraines I experienced after. I couldn’t bear any light, and I ended up in A&E a couple of days after due to the pain. It was just awful and so traumatic to go through during my first pregnancy.”
The lumbar puncture procedure was less successful than hoped, and two weeks later, the pain and affected vision returned. Another lumbar puncture was on the cards, but fortunately Cliobhna had been referred to Dr Forbes at Craigavon Area Hospital who decided to take every possible step before that procedure needed to be done again.
“Dr Forbes helped me with my diet and I cut out everything I needed to, and he also set me up with weekly appointments with Kerri at Specsavers Newry to ensure he could get up to date scans for my appointments with him.
“The plan was to deliver baby via c-section at 37 weeks, so for the next 8 weeks, I was with Kerri at Specsavers hoping and praying that the pressure was going down with all the effort we were making. I just wanted my baby to be healthy, and Kerri and her team were such an incredible support throughout everything. I was delighted to bring wee Luca in to introduce them. We formed a relationship during the toughest time of my life, and I will be forever grateful to the whole team for looking after me and Luca so well.”
Kerri says she’s grateful to be part of a team that values care, connection and communication throughout their expertise, alongside the equipment to work with Consultants and help provide the highest most efficient standard of care for both Cliobhna and her baby; “Our partners invested in bringing in the OCT scanning technology exactly for these reasons. There are so many conditions and diseases that can be picked up from a simple eye test, and if we suspect something else is going on, we have the OCT scanner and our Vision Field Testing equipment to hand. This is how our whole team provides emergency care in the community, and we strive for this level of excellence everyday in our practice.
“Cliobhna needed both scans weekly, then I was able to share those with Dr Forbes and keep in touch with her midwife consultant. We were all so relieved and myself and Cliobhna were quite emotional when we could see the pressure gradually going down week by week.”
This meant that baby Luca could be born, still via c-section, but at 39 weeks, giving him and mum an even better chance at a stress-free delivery.
“Luca arrived into this world on 8th April 2025, 7lb 14oz of perfection! He is thriving and is the absolute light of our lives. He has been the tonic that me and my whole family needed after such a traumatic time. My partner Jay has been so amazing and so supportive, as is my mum and wider family, but it was so scary for them to watch me go through all of that too. Luca was so longed for, he’s the first grandchild and nephew in the family, and for everything to happen that did happen during my pregnancy felt so traumatic.
“I am so grateful we have experts so accessible in the community at Specsavers. I don’t even want to think about what could’ve happened to me or Luca if they hadn’t been able to see me so quickly that day. We are so lucky, and I hope my story will help others understand how important getting regular eye tests is, or if they think something isn’t right, get it checked. I’ve been a customer of Specsavers Newry for 10 years, I’ve had glasses since I was a teenager, but I know others are not as aware of the services offered and how they can help us when we need it most.
The couple who have been together over four years are now looking forward to planning our wedding while enjoying their little bundle of joy.
Kerri finished; “Our whole team was involved in ensuring Cliobhna got the care she needed, quickly. We are passionate about the care we offer, and everyone has their role to play for such positive outcomes. We have become the leading eye care professionals in the area and I am very proud to be part of this team.
“We are just delighted to see Luca arrive healthy and happy into the world, and of course, see improvement with Cliobhna. After six weeks, she came in for follow up scans and I was delighted to see a massive improvement through the OCT scans. We will continue to work with her consultant with follow up care, but Cliobhna says Luca has made everything worth it! We will be there for her every step of the way.”
