Mum left 'terrified' after newborn baby diagnosed with sepsis
A 'terrified' mum says she wasn't sure her baby would make it out of hospital after he was born with sepsis and left fighting to stay alive.
Parents Erin and Konar were thrilled when little Dominic Moohan was born at Glasgow's Royal Infirmary on Father's Day, June 16. But the tot was soon transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) after he was found to have sepsis, pneumonia and Group B Strep just hours after being born.
Erin, 28, had struggled through labour for 15 hours and was heavily sedated by the time her baby was born, so Konar, 29, went with his newborn son to NICU, while Erin recovered. Erin said: "When I started to come round it was really distressing and scary and I wasn't sure if I was ever going to get my baby out of the hospital. We are first-time parents so just didn't know what to expect. We had to put all of our faith in the medical staff, but I am a nurse so I had full confidence in them to do all they could."
Dominic, who was just a few hours old, was quickly given antibiotics and had a feeding tube inserted, he was placed on two separate breathing equipments and had to undergo a lumbar puncture. The new parents were terrified for their son and said they felt horrible being surrounded by all the new mothers and their babies. Erin said: "I was in a ward with loads of other mums and I feel bad saying it but it wasn't nice to hear them all interacting with their babies. Thankfully the nurses understood and went and got me a room of my own.
Baby Dominic (Erin Mcnamara)"But it was still really distressing and we just felt so helpless. It was a serious situation on those first few days and all you could do was place his life in the hands of the medics and hope for the best," she told the Daily Record.
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The relieved parents were thankful that Dominic soon stabilised, and after four days he was moved out of the neonatal intensive care unit to spend time with his mum. The nervous parents were briefed by the hospital and were finally able to leave with Dominic. Now, they want to do their bit and pay back some of what the NHS did for them, so Konar is getting ready to run a half-marathon to raise funds for the people who saved their son's life.
Erin added: "Although it was a massive relief to learn that Dominic was being allowed to come home with us, we were also really anxious about taking him home and it all being down to us. After they gave us lots of advice and the numbers to phone in an emergency we felt more confident. We decided we wanted to fundraise and give something back to the NHS and show what neonatal intensive care units are really like after Lucy Letby. They helped save our son's life so we just want to shine a light on them now."
He survived the ordeal (Erin Mcnamara)
The tot was cared for by hospital NICU staff (Erin Mcnamara)Strep B is the biggest killer of newborns in the UK, with one baby a week dying from the infection. Group B Strep is the most common cause of meningitis in babies under three months of age - yet so many families only know about it when it is too late. The UK does not routinely test pregnant women for Group B Strep - also referred to as GBS or Strep B - unlike most wealthy countries, such as the USA, Canada and much of Europe. Yet if the test was carried out routinely as part of the maternity care women receive it would cost the NHS just £11.
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