Hi

my 23mo dd1 has swine flu and have been terrified that my 10 day old dd2 will get it too but eldest seems to be coming out of it now and getting better and so far no sign of symptons in dd2. I have breastfed both throughout (dd1 didn;t eat anything else for 2 days--v scary) but have scrupulously washed hands (and boobs) to try and prevent any spread
GP said breastfeeding was best thing I could do
DD1 is on tamiflu but they wouldn't prescribe anything for me or dd2 unless there were symptons and they said it was v common for 1 child but not the others in teh same family to get it,

Hi Scarlett I too am quite terrified about his, 2nd babe due in Sept, have been reading frantically. Hope we get some answers on this thread soon!

Any Gps, in the know types out there?

Best thing you can do for your baby is breastfeed - then your baby will get some protection from you.

Just been looking into it as so worried about my three month old, live in London and news today hyping up the scare again...

It seems that breastfeeding does help protect - if you/baby get exposed, you can pass antibodies to baby through the milk (and the baby has antibodies from forms of flu you've already had ie lots more flu than the baby has had which I guess could help the baby if they get exposed before you do)

http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/FamilyHealth_210/Breastfeeding_Recommended_to_ProtectInfa ntsDuring_Swine_FluOutbreak.shtml

My newborn is 6 weeks old and my 3 year old girl's nursery has just had its first suspected case. I am reading up and see that breastfeeding is the best defence, the websites say even if we are sick to breastfeed as the antibodies we produce in reposnse will pass over in the breastmilk. Lots of handwashing before touching baby.

thank you so much hairtwiddler and welshmoomin - really appreciate your responses. made me feel much better! Happy evening to you both

Poor you. I'm also expecting 2nd baby in mid-November and yes, it has crossed my mind that the baby could get it, but have decided to adopt a 'do all I can about it but don't worry about the rest' policy.
I wash my hands a lot, and wash them well, and I carry some soap and hand gel around with me all the time now.
We went to a swine flu hit area on holiday (they had the most cases in the uk at the time) and came away unscathed.
Easy to say 'don't worry' though, isn't it - like telling you not to think about pink elephants!
Be kind to yourself, and ring nhs for advice and wash your hands a lot!

Bess you Scarlet. As if being pregnant wasn't hard enough going. Have you tried phoning NHS direct? They have a dedicated Swine Flu team. They may be able to put your mind at rest or at least give you an action plan should you feel the need.

Expecting 2nd baby mid November and am really worried about the risks involved in the baby getting swine flu. I know you can give Tamiflu to children under 12months under a doctors supervision but stupidly went online and saw that flu can be deadly to newborns. Am SO WORRIED about this. Its taking away my joy at being pregnant and I find myself crying about it and hardly sleeping.

Does anyone have any reassuring info for me on newborns and swine flu? Would really appreciate it.

Thank you