Baby died from mother's cold sore virus 'after she was told by medics her ulcers were just hormonal'

A mother whose newborn daughter was killed by the cold sore virus has told how she was reassured that the painful sores in her own mouth were 'just hormones'.

Meg Edmonds, 22, developed ulcers on her lips and mouth on the day she gave birth to Magnolia in February.

She asked health professionals whether it was a cold sore, but was told it was 'hormonal' or that she needed to drink more.

Tragically ten days later, Magnolia, known as Maggie, died in intensive care from disseminated neonatal herpes, caused by HSV-1, the herpes simplex virus behind cold sores.

Now Ms Edmonds, from Rugeley, Staffordshire, has told how she believes she passed the virus to her daughter, whom she carried on breastfeeding as the baby's condition worsened.

'The virus came from me, which is so devastatingly hard to live with,' she said. 'No one in our family or friends knew a cold sore could kill a baby. 

'I didn't even know cold sores were caused by the herpes virus until after she died.'

Maggie was born on February 1, a little sister for Cordelia, now two and a half. 

Meg Edmonds, 22, (pictured with her partner Ben Brookes, 27) says she was told to continue breastfeeding newborn daughter Magnolia and that the sores on her own lips and mouth were 'hormones', or a sign she needed to drink more water

Magnolia - known as Maggie - was alert and feeding well for her first two days, but developed breathing difficulties, a rash across her chest and a sore eye

She was alert and feeding well for her first two days, but by day three she had become sleepy and was not waking for feeds.

Over the following week, she developed breathing difficulties, a weak, high-pitched cry, a rash across her chest and a sore eye. 

She turned grey and was cold to the touch.

Her parents say that on home visits and at their local hospital, they were told her symptoms were down to breastfeeding problems, weight loss and jaundice.

Ms Edmonds, who was in agony from the sores, said: 'My mouth was full of ulcers, my lips were swollen and it was painful to eat or drink.'

She continued to give Maggie her expressed milk after breastfeeding became too painful because she had been advised it would help her daughter be less lethargic.

Having since researched the virus, Ms Edmonds now believes it may have passed accidentally from her mouth to her nipple, which would explain the sores and extreme pain she felt there – and that Maggie then caught it through contact while feeding. 

The virus is spread by direct contact with sores or infected saliva, rather than through breast milk itself.

Maggie was admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit at Birmingham Children's Hospital,  but by then, the virus had spread through her body, causing multiple organs to fail

By the time Maggie reached the paediatric intensive care unit at Birmingham Children's Hospital, the virus had spread through her body, causing multiple organs to fail. 

She went into cardiac arrest the night before she died on February 11.

Her parents lay with her in a bed on the ward, cuddling her as she died. Blood tests confirmed HSV-1.

Ms Edmonds said she was only told on the day Maggie died that her own sores had probably been a primary HSV infection, the first time she had caught the virus, when it is at its most contagious. 

She has never been formally diagnosed.

'I don't even know how I contracted it, as no one around me had cold sores at the time,' she said. 

'That's what's so dangerous about it. It can be anywhere.'

Around two in three people under 50 carry HSV-1, according to the World Health Organization. 

In adults, it usually causes nothing worse than cold sores but newborns have little defence against it.

Neonatal herpes affects about six in every 100,000 babies in the UK and Ireland, according to a British Paediatric Surveillance Unit study. 

Almost a quarter of infected babies died, rising to two-thirds of those with the disseminated form.

Last year, a National Child Mortality Database review of 35 infant deaths in England linked to HSV called for parents to be warned about cold sores during pregnancy.

Ms Edmonds and her partner Ben Brookes, 27, are now backing Infection Prevention Week, a campaign by baby charity The Lullaby Trust which starts on Monday.

A poll of 1,001 parents for the charity found 57 per cent had had a relative kiss their baby without asking, while 46 per cent felt uncomfortable asking loved ones to wash their hands.

Ms Edmonds said: 'Newborns have immature immune systems, so setting your boundaries when it comes to touching and kissing your baby is a must. 

'It could save your baby's life.'

Jenny Ward, chief executive of The Lullaby Trust, said: 'Protecting your baby from infection is never something you need to justify. You are not being rude or overprotective.'

Ms Edmonds is supporting The Lullaby Trust's Infection Prevention Week. For more information click here.