Mom shares ‘immense guilt’ after ‘infecting newborn son with whooping cough’ that left him brain damaged

A mother admitted feeling “immense guilt” every day after giving her newborn son whooping cough, which left him with brain damage.

Mel Jewell claims she never received the pertussis vaccine when she was pregnant with her son Ewan.

7

7

The little one caught whooping cough when he was just two weeks old and lives with brain damage.

Now Mel is encouraging pregnant women to get vaccinated.

Whooping cough is a bacterial infection of the lungs and breathing tubes that can spread easily and cause serious problems, especially in babies too young to receive the vaccine.

The UK is currently seeing a rise in cases of whooping cough – dubbed the “100 day cough”.

Almost 3,000 cases were confirmed in the first three months of this year – compared to the 858 seen in all of 2023 – and five babies died.

Experts have warned that more deaths could be reported by mid-May due to a delay between deaths and the publication of official figures.

The brave parents of a 15-day-old girl who died from whooping cough on May 3 have spoken about their daughter’s final moments and urged other parents to be aware of the signs of the illness.

Mother-of-four Mel passed away and sadly passed on whooping cough to her son Ewan in 2002.

The 48-year-old, who lives in Eastleigh, Hampshire, said her son, now 21, is unable to live independently, has the reading age of a five-year-old and is unable to carry out simple tasks such as using a microwave.

Vaccination against pertussis is recommended for all pregnant women, ideally between 16 and 32 weeks.

However, Mel says she was not vaccinated against the disease and subsequently caught whooping cough while eight months pregnant.

Doctors believe Ewan contracted the disease soon after he was born, resulting in him being placed on life support after his brain ran out of oxygen.

Although Mel made funeral arrangements, Ewan made a miraculous recovery, but still suffers from the effects of the illness today.

Mel is now determined to raise awareness of the vaccine as she says she would have received it then if she had been offered it.

A ‘TERRIBLE’ ORDER

Business owner Mel said: “It was horrible. When you carry a baby for nine months and suddenly you are told that you will probably lose your child.

“I was thinking ‘how am I going to tell my other two kids that their little brother was going to die?’

“I was planning his funeral, in my head, like what he was going to wear, which is a little crazy.

“I wonder if I could have lived knowing that my son had died because of me. It was like a dream, actually, I kept waiting to wake up.”

The infection caused Ewan to stop breathing “several times” for up to 15 minutes, depriving his brain of oxygen and forcing doctors to place him on a life support machine at Southampton General Hospital.

I cried when I heard the news that five babies had died this year because of this. To think that there are parents going through what we went through is unnecessary. I don’t think people are aware of how much it can affect you.

Mel Jewell

Just days after being placed on life support, Ewan was airlifted to Leicester, where he received treatment involving a machine that effectively replaces his heart and lungs, sending oxygen to depleted tissues.

Mel said: “They gave him a load of drugs, just to keep him alive.

“When we arrived in Leicester they told us that ‘he will have some form of brain damage because of the amount of times he has stopped breathing and all the medication he has been given to keep him alive’.

“They said he might have severe brain damage and, in a wheelchair, be unable to speak.”

The situation went from bad to worse as Mel tells how she and the rest of Ewan’s family were told to ‘say goodbye to him’ and prepare funeral arrangements.

‘JUST GET VACCINATED’

Ewan finally recovered enough to return home at three months old, thanks to his birth weight of 9 pounds, 11 ounces.

The ordeal caused him to lose nearly a pound of weight that doctors said a smaller baby couldn’t lose.

His mother then made sure he got all the regular jabs and boosters he was offered.

Now, Mel encourages other parents to get vaccinated decades after almost losing her own child.

I feel so, so guilty. Every time Ewan irritates me or gets upset, I think, ‘I did this to my son; he has brain damage because of me.’

Honey Jewel

Mel said: “I cried when I heard the News that five babies died this year because of it.

“To think that there are parents going through what we went through is unnecessary. I don’t think people are aware of how much it can affect you.

“Yesterday I received a post from a friend who said: ‘if you have whooping cough, have an onion drink and it will get rid of it’, I couldn’t believe that this was supposed to be a medicine.

“Just get vaccinated. The guilt: I feel very, very guilty. Every time Ewan irritates me or gets upset, I think ‘I did this to my son; he’s brain damaged because of me.’

“I wouldn’t want any other mother to go through this.”

Whooping cough and pregnancy

Whooping cough is a serious illness that can cause pneumonia and permanent brain damage.

Young babies are particularly at risk of serious illness and remain vulnerable until they can be vaccinated against whooping cough from two months of age.

The government advises that pregnant women protect their unborn child by vaccinating against whooping cough during pregnancy and describes the vaccine as “very effective” in protecting newborns against the disease.

It states that pregnant women can receive the whooping cough vaccine following mid-pregnancy screening and should ask their midwife or GP if they have not been offered the vaccine.

7

7

The pertussis vaccine is also offered to children and is routinely administered as part of:

• 6-in-1 vaccine – for babies aged 8, 12 and 16 weeks
• 4-in-1 preschool booster – for children aged 3 years and 4 months

The recent increase in cases has been partly attributed to decreased vaccine uptake.

Just 61 percent of pregnant women in England were vaccinated in 2023, down from 71 percent in 2020.

Meanwhile, the number of two-year-olds who completed the six-in-one vaccination in September 2023 was 92.9 percent, compared to 96.3 percent in March 2014.

But the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) also noted that the bug peaks every three to five years.

With the last peak in the UK occurring in 2016, the UKHSA said a year of peak cases is “overdue”.

All over the country Covid-19 lockdowns also played a role, as they meant people had less immunity to the disease.

In response to the growing rise in cases across the country, several doctors’ offices have asked their patients to attend appointments wearing masks, in a frightening reminder of Covid-19 safety measures.

Meanwhile, a mother revealed she was left fearing for her teenage daughter’s life after she contracted whooping cough.

Fourteen-year-old Ellie was wracked with coughing until she was out of breath and her lips turned blue.

7

7