A mum is warning parents about the dangers of bronchiolitis after her six-week-old baby was hospitalised following what she thought was just a cold.
Beth Foster, 21, from Stourbridge, West Midlands, said her daughter Myah had a nasty “cough and normal cold symptoms” to begin with.
This quickly changed to coughing fits and she “turned purple through lack of breath”.
“Myah was using muscles in her tummy to help her to breathe that she shouldn’t even be using to breathe,” Foster wrote on Facebook on 10 December.
“I’ve never seen a baby’s tummy pumping so fast fighting for the breaths, and I’ve never been so scared.”
When her daughter had the coughing fit, Foster called 111 and went straight to the hospital.
“When I arrived they checked Myah and three nurses ran off with her to immediately get her straight on oxygen,” she wrote. “I was told they were surprised she didn’t end up in an ambulance.
“We had no clue how serious this all was until that point.”
Myah is currently in hospital on the high dependancy unit and is expected to stay in for seven days. The mum is urging parents to be aware of bronchiolitis this winter, adding: “It’s so easily missed and dangerous”.
Speaking to HuffPost UK, she said: “I’d just like to stress to all parents that you know your baby better than any medical professional.
“You know if something isn’t right, you know when they need to be checked. Just because a doctor one day says the child is fine and there’s nothing to worry about, doesn’t mean the next day that things could have changed.
“Bronchiolitis changes the child within hours. Listen to yourself and if ever you’re unsure just get your child checked. Never think you’re wasting anyone’s time. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
“Never think you’re wasting anyone’s time. It’s better to be safe than sorry."”
- Beth Foster, 21.
Bronchiolitis is an infection that causes the smallest airways in the lungs (the bronchioles) to become infected and inflamed.
The NHS says around one in three children in the UK will develop bronchiolitis during their first year of life. It most commonly affects babies between three and six months of age.
“The early symptoms of bronchiolitis are similar to those of a common cold, such as a runny nose and cough,” the NHS states.
“Further symptoms include slight high temperature (fever), a dry and persistent cough, difficulty feeding and rapid or noisy breathing or wheezing.”
Parents are expected to seek help if:
- They are worried about their child
- The child is having some difficulty breathing
- The child has taken less than half the amount they usually do during the last two or three feeds, or have had a dry nappy for 12 hours or more
- The child has a persistent high temperature
- The child seems very tired or irritable.
Parents should dial 999 for an ambulance if:
- Their baby is having severe difficulty breathing and is pale or sweaty
- Their baby’s tongue or lips are blue (cyanosis)
- There are long pauses in their baby’s breathing.