Nicola Andrews, United Kingdom (UK)

My daughter Madeleine was born with a little pink patch on her left upper arm. I did a lot of my own research and found it to be a mixed hemangioma. It started to grow, the red got brighter and more raised, her arm had a bulge and was blue all the way round as if she had been bruised. We finally got a referral from our GP and at 6 months given an appointment to great Ormond street in London. We went for our appointment and started on Propranolol. Madeleine has also always had a patchy right arm. And at the age of 11 months after seeing Dr. Glover now have a diagnosis of a capillary malformation. Along with this she also has a stork bite on the back of her neck and a blood disorder (which isn’t linked to any of her birthmarks). I have spent hours and hours researching vascular birthmarks and feel that in the UK there isn’t enough information available. I want to be able to help spread awareness! I wish I had found someone earlier in our birthmark journey. I feel that people with birthmarks are not always accepted as well as someone without a birthmark, but I do feel this is because many people do not know anything about them. I didn’t, until my daughter was born with one. I want to use my spare time to raise awareness and acceptance for people with all types of vascular birthmarks, and to let people know about VBF and the hard work and support they give to not only the US but also the UK and every other country where people are seeking advice and help. Birthmarks are beautiful! They are not imperfections they are perfections.