Health worries for baby

[Poppy708]

Hi all
I was hoping to get a bit of advice to manage anxiety and worry about my baby? I’ve seen in the news today that whooping cough cases are on the rise and have caused the death of a few newborn babies. As well as COVID still hanging around (despite what the government and media want us to believe) I’m really worried about taking my baby out and about. Before having my baby I’d hope to go to baby classes - meet other mums and let my baby with other babies but now with cases of whooping cough and measles on the rise I’m a bit more reluctant to do this.
I know I can keep my baby in a bubble all their life and it’s completely normal for them to get bugs / coughs and colds etc.. but the severity of whooping cough, measles and COVID makes me quite anxious.
has anyone experienced any similar anxiety and how best they’ve managed it or if not any gentle words to help me manage this? Thanks

It's unlikely that a baby under 8 weeks would catch these as they aren't mobile like toddlers so won't have other breathing in the face and touching them.

If Measles and Whooping Cough is in the rise in your area, do you know if the DC affected were vaccinated?

How old is your LO?

And I've not seen anything in the press or from the government saying that Covid-19 is no longer a threat? The current Government have recently brought out a Spring Booster program so they're definitely not saying that it's not a threat for the very old.

Thank you for replying @CadyEastman my LO is 9 weeks so only had first set of vaccines.
measles has been rife in our area but I’m not sure if they were vaccinated. A lot of my family and friends work in healthcare professions and are keen to visit baby but I’m just concerned bugs and viruses can be passed on.
I know I need to look at things subjectively and weight up risk and what’s could realistically happy. I am a first time mum so likely more anxious as everything is so unknown.

If you're concerned you could ask visitors to wash their hands before touching baby and not to come if they have a cold. They are pretty reasonable requests if not common. How about meeting people in the garden or a park to reduce the risk of transmission? It's fairly warm though so even if you were inside I presume you'd have to windows open and the room woukd be well ventilated?

I think if you look into it, most, but not all of the severe cases of Measles have been in unvaccinated DC. The risk of your LO becoming unwell is fairly small.

If the fear is stopping you from taking baby out or seeing friends and family I'd tell your HV as health anxiety can be a sign of PNI and she may be able to offer some support.

I'd also talk to the PANDAS Foundation

thank you for the kindness in your replies @CadyEastman i appreciate it and the suggestions you’ve made

There is so much of it about that I think there is good cause to be anxious if your baby has not had the third dose of vaccine yet and you did not get the pregnancy booster. A year ago it would not have been an issue because there was so little about. But now there have been nearly 3000 confirmations in England since the beginning of the year and because mild cases can occur, and because it can be so difficult to get it confirmed, the true number could easily be at least 10 times this. And if you consider that for every baby that has died so far (5) there are probably 99 in hospital (probably ICU), you can see the extent of it. I would take every precaution to avoid such babies coming into contact with anyone with a cough until the third vaccine has been given. If that is unavoidable, could they wear a mask? If they cough can they do it outside, or at least with windows open so there is fresh air and well away from the baby?
If you baby develops a worrying cough it is possible theoretically to get a PCR test done in a medical centre. It requires a throat or nasal swab in a dry tube (not in the usual transport medium) which is then sent to a laboratory to be tested. The test takes a few days.
On the positive side, if everyone pregnant gets the booster, especially if near term and you have not had it, from 3 weeks from now there need be no more deaths (it will give some protection even as late as 3 weeks from delivery).
BTW I am a retired GP with a special interest in whooping cough.

Thank you @DrDougJ2 that’s really helpful. We’ve decided to delay any visits from extended family and friends until the third set of vaccines it’s only a few more weeks.
good suggestions about windows and outdoor space. My partner has a number of allergies so we use air filters so should hopefully help with any lingering things in the air.
I had my whooping cough vaccine when I was 21 weeks so hopefully this will give baby some protection until they’ve had all three doses. Thank you for letting me know about the process for testing

Whooping cough is in the first set of vaccines at 8 weeks, so baby should be protected from that (I guess not fully, but with your pregnancy vaccine as well that wouldn't worry me).

Measles immunity is passed on from mother to baby, so if you've had measles or been vaccinated against it that should also give baby some immunity until their MMR.

I completely understand your fears, but you can't stay away from people forever. Avoiding people with colds while baby is very little is a good idea (mine got RSV at 10 weeks and it was so scary) but you also have to accept that illness is part of life.

The thing you have to remember is that people have babies when they have toddlers at home too. Think of all the germs those babies are around and yet they do ok!

My youngest got swine flu when she was a wee bit older than yours is now. All of us got it. My 3 year old the worst tbh and the baby dealt with it best out of us all!

Agree with this. Well done for getting your whooping cough vaccine in pregnancy. One of the main reasons for the current rise in whooping cough cases is thought to be pregnant women not getting vaccinated.

It's sensible to be a cautious with things like measles, espcecially if you are in a high incidence area, but you should hopefully have passed on some protection. I'm not sure about Covid - the general consensus always used to be that young children didn't really get it very badly but I don't know whether that's changed with recent variants.

My youngest was born during the pandemic and didn't see many people for ages. He got RSV at 15 months, as severely as if he'd only been a few weeeks old, because his immune system was so under-developed. So eventually you have to find a balance as the only way they learn to fight things off is by being exposed to them.

Thank you @SnapdragonToadflax @thaegumathteth and @ViveLaOeuf I appreciate your comments and it’s helped to reassure me that I can take steps to protect my baby (keeping them away from people with colds etc) but also it’s normal for children to get ill and ultimately I can’t protect them forever. I think it’s just anxiety and lack of confidence in myself that’s triggered this fear but I know I can take small steps to conquer it

@DrDougJ2 I have just come across this thread and am also very nervous about whooping cough. Baby is 5 weeks old currently and whooping cough vaccine was not mentioned to me by midwife/gp during my pregnancy. I was told by a family member and asked for it at 32 weeks and was told I was too late. After reading about the rise in cases I pushed to have the vaccination after giving birth and eventually had it two weeks post partum. I am absolutely terrified that baby is still so tiny and has no protection. Would they get any protection from me (eg. In breast milk) as I had the jab after birth?

Also, I’m counting down the days until her 8 week jabs, will she have decent protection then or only after all jabs complete at 16 weeks?

Getting the booster while pregnant is the way it works. Even late in pregnancy is worthwhile. Through blood via the placenta , not breast milk. Health care professionals are not all aware of the details of things like this. There is simply too much for them to know about. More responsibility is transferring to individuals in these days of information plenty. It can be very difficult to make the best decision. Only trust reputable sources. There are too many weirdos promoting their eccentric selves. Whooping cough can only be caught from somebody who is coughing probably, so keeping away from places where there could be that kind of exposure would be sensible at least until baby has had the third injection. Very few babies catch whooping cough and the vast majority of those that do, get over it OK. Just be careful, and if baby gets unwell get checked out by a doctor. If exposure has occurred, antibiotics can stop it developing. Taking antibiotics is not to be taken lightly, but can be life saving in the right circumstances. My information website.

@DrDougJ2 thank you so much. I wish that I had pushed for it more when I was told I was too late! Am doing my best to shield baby as much as possible but it’s going to be a long few weeks until jabs are completed!

Imo it's best not to worry too much about 'shielding babies from bugs'. We did that during Covid and that didn't work out well for children's immune systems! My youngest has been to some real germ factories from an incredibly young age e.g softplay. She's 2 now and very robust, hardly ever ill. The kids I know who are 'protected from germs' at every opportunity seem to catch every bug going. Try not to worry.

There is a lot of sense in what you are saying. Children are not in much danger from covid although babies are not quite so resilient. Whooping cough is rather different though. It really hammers babies and without intensive care very many would die of it. And we don't really know the proportion that come through totally unscathed. Most people these days are lucky and don't have a tragedy in the family from infectious disease thanks to immunisation and antibiotics. But if you have, then you would not be quite that nonchalant about it. Not all bugs can be treated the same way. You need to be focussed on what bugs are around and the specific threat of each.