Heather - this sounds terrible for the family concerned. Do they know what
caused the HUS? I can imagine that if it's caused by E Coli 0157, it would
make sense to keep the mother and baby pair apart. If she's got it because
she had pre-eclampsia (and as baby is term, maybe this isn't likely), then I
can't see this as a reason not to let her be with her baby. If they're being
kept apart because she's so sick and they worried the baby might pass on
another awful bug, how come they allow her sister in to see her? Why would a
newborn, healthy baby be more likely to pass on an infection to this sick
mum than her sister?
There's a website at http://www.ecoli-uk.co.uk/ with an email address of
[log in to unmask] and a freephone number of 0800 731 4679 . They're based
in Hayes, just near Heathrow. It seems to be for sufferers whose HUS was
caused by E Coli - even so, might they be a source of more info?
Yours
Jessica
(and yes, maybe I did paint an over rosy view of b'fing in the UK but I
didn't want our American colleagues to think it was banned!)
----- Original Message -----
From: "heather" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2002 4:12 PM
Subject: haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS)
I have been contacted by the sister of a mother, 7 days pp, who has
suddenly contracted this very serious kidney condition and who is in
hospital having dialysis. Baby (who is healthy and term) is in the
same hospital, on another floor, and is not permitted to be with the
mum, though the mother has been wheeled down to see the baby. Baby is
now ff.
Mother had been bf, though latch wasn't v. good according to sis.
Mother is desperately ill, and has made some attempts to express but
without much more than a few drops. Very stressed and sad she is
unable to feed.
I have suggested
i) getting a 2nd opinion about whether the baby and she can actually
be together - there may be justifiable fears about infection, but I
think it's worth questioning. She is too ill to really hold the baby,
says the sis, but she could do so with help, and she could see the
baby and stroke her.
ii) that when she is better she can, with support and motivation,
return to full bf even if she has to build up to it, and by no means
is it certain that the baby will reject the breast
iii) Sis is bf her own 5-month-old baby - we talked about donating
and wet-nursing when it might be appropriate, which she is very open
to, but she is 150 mls away, so practicalities might interfere
I know nothing about how this illness would affect milk production,
and there is nothing in the archives (I checked with US and non-US
spellings), but the mother says her breasts don't look like 7 day pp
breasts at all. I said I would try to find out.
Thanks, if anyone knows anything to help.
Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK
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