I felt awful after giving birth but midwives ignored me – I was hours away from dying
A MUM has relived the moment she was hours away from dying after giving birth.
Victoria Robinson said she felt unwell during the labour with a racing heart.
She had already had three babies before having little Myla, but knew something was different about this birth.
Myla was born safely despite showing signs of distress, and the two went home after 24 hours.
She said: "On day three of being home, I quickly became unwell with a high temperature.
"My body was shaking uncontrollably, I was freezing cold and I had extreme pain in my lower right abdomen.
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"After a short while the shivers subsided and I began to feel okay again."
The mum said she later started to feel very unwell, but was dismissed when she told midwives she didn't feel right.
She was struggling to wash and dress herself and little Myla looked jaundiced.
Victoria took her to hospital for a check up, and told nurses and midwives she also wasn't well.
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But she claims they insisted it was due to breastfeeding and breast pain, as Myla was admitted.
She said: "I made a second attempt at telling the midwives how I felt, but again was reassured I’d be okay – I’d just had a baby 5 days before, my breasts were filling with milk and I was recovering after my fourth natural labour.
"I was struggling to walk, eat, and drink, I hadn’t urinated for a number of days and I spent most of the time with baby Myla next to me in her crib sleeping in an upright position as I couldn’t lay down due to the extreme pain.
"I barely had the energy to hold my newborn baby girl.
"I called for a doctor to check me over, who noticed signs of infection straight away.
"I was immediately taken to the emergency room on the labour ward as I was struggling to breathe, and was laid flat to be checked over. I had numerous doctors surrounding me, all telling me the things they were going to do to help me.
"My partner, my mum and my aunty joined me in the emergency room and were all so shocked to see how poorly I had become so quickly.
"My mum was really concerned about how cold my hands and feet were, and that they had started to lose circulation.
"The doctor told my mum that if I had left asking for help for an hour longer, I wouldn’t have survived."
NEW RULES
New which has been published has proposed changes to the way people with suspected sepsis are treated with antibiotics, alongside new measures to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
This new approach has been welcomed by the UK Sepsis Trust and Jeremy Hunt.
The trust said that the new guidelines encourage healthcare professionals to recognise and treat the very sickest people with sepsis immediately (within one hour) and assess and treat those who are less ill within three hours.
This time period will allow those who are less sick to be investigated properly, allowing medics to identify the source of infection.
In turn this is set to reduce the risk of antibiotic overuse and subsequent AMR.
The UK Sepsis Trust says this new approach could be critical to saving thousands of lives and reduce the aftereffects of sepsis.
Victoria was seriously ill with sepsis that had caused her kidneys to start to fail.
The infection has started in her uterus and had gone through to her stomach, causing an abscess.
Thankfully she recovered, but now wants women to know the signs of the serious illness.
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She said: "Throughout my labour and recovery from birth I showed so many signs of infection.
"Signs that I missed, signs the midwives missed – signs that if I had known, I could have done something about, and maybe the sepsis wouldn’t have been as bad as it was.”
Signs of sepsis include:
- feeling very unwell or like there's something seriously wrong
- haven't urinated all day (for adults and older children) or in the last 12 hours (for babies and young children)
- keeping vomiting and cannot keep any food or milk down (for babies and young children)
- swelling, redness or pain around a cut or wound
- a very high or low temperature, feels hot or cold to the touch, or is shivering
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Do not worry if you're not sure if it's sepsis – it's still best to call 111.
For more information on sepsis, you can visit the.
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