Problem with newborn,please help.

[twiceisnice]

Hi,this is my 1st time on here so please bear with me.I joined because I am a mum of two and don't really know many other paople but this isn't about me.
My brother and his partner had a beautiful baby boy yesterday morning.She was a week overdue,he is their 1st child and they don't know any other parents.
The baby was whisked away,despite looking normal and weighing 8lbs 10oz,straight to scbu,on a drip for feed,iv antibiotics,the lot.
They say he has an infection.They say they don't know what it is.All the tests are drawing a blank and they have done a lumbar puncture.
They are talking about intrauterine meningitis.I've googled this and can only find technical papers for consultants.
Meanwhile,my new nephew's doctors are telling the parents nothing and they are too distressed to ask.
Can anyone please tell me where I can find out more about:how they knew he had an infection so soon/what they will have tested him for/what the lumbar puncture will show/what are the symptoms of intrauterine meningitis and the consequences?
Any help would be of huge value.Thankyou.C.

[scattyspice]

Sorry can't really help.
Your brother and partner should not be too frightened to the ask the staff for information.

Good luck.

[bubblagirl]

the only thing i can think of is strep b which i had but luckily as i had antibiotcs 4 hours before giving bith baby was ok it can cause breathing problems and septisemia this is the only cause i know but is very very common and if treated straight away can get 100% recovery so good job baby was treated straight away wish all the best xx

[twiceisnice]

Thanks,off to get my two,back later,thankyou.

[bubblagirl]

strep b can cause phneumonia, meningitus and septus so i would imagine that is what it is strep b is an infection in the mum that goes undetected as nhs do not offer test to pregnant women

it is when baby comes out it swallows fluid and this passes baby infection that can be fatal if undetected my son was left undiagnosed for 12 hours and this could have meant fatality but luckily i had kidney infection and had iv antibiotics 4 hrs before he was born luckily as this is recommended if you know you have it and my kidney infection saved him

i think all mums should be given option to pay the 34 pound and get tested as it would save alot of undetected babies good luck to them all xx

[r3dh3d]

I had a rising infection in my amniotic fluid: waters went, had group B strep on my skin, that transferred to the amniotic fluid and DD1 "cooked" in GBS for 24 hours before final delivery via emergency section for fetal distress.

They knew DD1 had an infection because my temperature and heart rate rose during delivery (showing I had an infection) plus DD1's heart rate rose too. Hence the section. They whipped her out and took a cord blood swab on the way out: her APGAR was OK-ish otherwise, but her breathing wasn't good. They put her in SCBU and put her on antibiotics "just in case" while they waited for the results: they could tell by the antibody counts that there was an infection pretty early on: that result came back same day whereas the GBS result took a couple of days to culture.

However, I would have thought GBS would be about the first thing they would test for, as it's moderately common and easy to treat, so that's probably not what he has - DD1 was put on IV antibiotics and was back with me within 24 hours. (Turns out GBS was by orders of magnitude the least of her problems, but that's the relevant one).

A LP will show if there is a bacterial infection in the spinal fluid: because this is continuous with the fluid surrounding the brain, any bacterial infection there will also be in the spinal fluid. I think it can't show if there is a viral infection but I'd heard that by and large viral meningitis is less serious than bacterial meningitis anyway.

The literature (as far as I can see) is talking about all sorts of complications, but medical textbooks are extremely unhelpful in this context - they tell you what the worst case is, because that's what doctors need to look for, but they give no figures of how likely this is. So none of them might ever happen. While he's in SCBU they could probably talk your brother and SIL through the possibilities but at this stage won't be able to tell the odds until things start looking up and they can check how he is responding once he is "better".

Don't know if any of that was helpful.

[twiceisnice]

Thankyou so much all who have posted and r3dh3d,yes thanks,that has cleared up the gaping lack of understanding a bit.
Tonight I am very sad because the brother & sil(not my brother's choice but the hosp don't let dads stay over) are leaving baby and going home for an unspecified time.The baby will be alone,I live in a different part of the country otherwise I would go myself,but I have been in tears and think they have abandoned him.
For all the worry over his health,now I am more worried about his future.
I know I shouldn't judge but,sil's reason is;"I just want to go home".
Now I thought the rights to the "I wants" were passed over to the baby,and the mum grows up at this point.Apparantly not in all cases.How naiive was I?
Sorry for ranting~it's been a worrying time.Thanks again to all who have offered help.Thankyou.
xC.