A mother’s unbearable grief after a ten-day life
“The guilt is obviously unbearable, it’s horrific, but I just try and remind myself that I didn’t know and I did what I could have done with the knowledge that I did have.”
Meg Edmonds is urging other parents to learn about the dangers cold sores pose to newborns after her 10-day-old daughter, Magnolia, died in February from the herpes simplex virus, bbc.co.uk reported. The 22-year-old from Rugeley in Staffordshire stated that Magnolia was born healthy following a straightforward water birth that was nearly two weeks overdue, according to a report by aol.com.
Strict winter safeguards against infection
Edmonds explained that she took strict precautions during the winter months because she worried about general infections. She washed her hands constantly and refused visits from anyone who felt unwell.
“We chose not to have family round who were poorly at the time because I knew that was not safe,” Edmonds told aol.com. She added that she never kissed her newborn daughter.
An overlooked lip sore and a fatal misunderstanding
Edmonds only later realised she had a lesion on her lip around the time of the birth, a detail highlighted by aol.com. She had never experienced a cold sore before and asked health professionals about the sore, but was reassured it was nothing to worry about and might just be hormonal or caused by dehydration from labour. She noted that she had only associated herpes with sexually transmitted infections prior to her daughter’s death.
The heavy social toll of setting boundaries
Research by the Lullaby Trust emphasizes the social pressure parents face when asking people not to kiss or touch their infants. Jenny Ward, chief executive of the charity, told bbc.co.uk that parents often feel awkward, embarrassed, or guilty about setting boundaries regarding infant contact.
“Protecting your baby from infection is never something you need to justify,” Ward said, according to bbc.co.uk. The charity promotes THANKS advice, which stands for think hands and no kisses, advising individuals to wash their hands before touching a baby and to avoid kissing infants when unwell.
Related reading