A MUM has spoken about the help she received from Julia’s house after her baby twin girls were diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

Mum Lucy Matthews gave birth to Isla-Rae Tities and her twin sister Esmae at 27 weeks, but doctors did not think they would both make it home.

The girls were so tiny that Lucy remembers cradling their head and body in just one of her hands.

She said: “After a week of the girls being born, they told us Isla and severe brain damage.

“That night they let me hold her for the first time because they really thought it was the last chance. I held for hours – I didn’t want to let her go.”

Against all odds, Isla turned a corner soon after. But just as she was starting to improve the family got the devastating news that Esmae had brain damage as well.

They were told she would not be as acutely disabled as her sister, but it was unlikely she would ever be able to walk or talk.

“It took a while for us to get our head around having two children with Cerebral Palsy and what life was going to be like,” said Lucy. “Isla needs oxygen at home, and she’s developed dystonia, which makes her muscles tense. She arches her back and twists her arms. There’s a lot of medication we need to give her, and two years on I’m still feeding her every three hours through her tube.”

The family have had a tough two years since the girls were born, with the worry and strain of hospital visits and round-the-clock care, while also looking after their four-year-old daughter Alarna.

Lucy said, “I get anxious about leaving Isla and trusting people, even though I do have family that offer to help. But with Julia’s House, I know she’s in safe hands and I can relax.

"I’m up all night, every night with Isla, and I end up feeling quite down because I’m so exhausted.

"So, for me, having that time to take a break and lie down, or do something fun with Alarna – it’s life changing.”