Mother’s warning after baby’s fight for life with croup

A mum is warning parents to look out for signs of croup after being told her daughter was close to death at the Royal United Hospital in Bath. Ria Morgan, 27, went through every parent’s worst nightmare when she was told that her daughter Ivy-alice might stop breathing in the resuscitation unit on Sunday August 19 after being rushed to the hospital from her home in Shepton Mallet. The one-year-old had been suffering with croup for a day when she became very unwell. Croup blocks the airways, windpipes, and voice boxes of children and leaves them with a ‘barking cough.’ In severe cases, it may make it difficult for them to breathe. The mother-of-two said: “Ivyalice woke up on Sunday morning with the distinctive ‘barking cough’ which I knew was croup as my son Henry had suffered with it a year before. “Knowing that fresh air would help, my husband and I took the kids out for a walk and although Ivy-alice was under the weather she seemed alright but she became very distressed later that evening.” Ria, who works as an actress, gave her baby Calpol and Nurofen and put her to bed, but she woke a couple of hours later very upset and struggling to breathe. She said: “I was concerned at how upset she was but felt that maybe I was over-reacting. I decided to call 111 for some advice but didn’t think it would be as serious as it was. “As soon as I got through the lady asked me for her name and age before telling me she was sending a paramedic straight away. She said she could hear how bad Ivy-alice was and that it was clear she was struggling.” Within minutes of the paramedics arriving they gave her Salbutamol through a nebuliser and called an ambulance. “It was really scary. I didn’t really understand what was going on,” Ria continued. On arrival at the RUH, Ivy-alice and her mum were greeted by several doctors and nurses who tried to make the little girl better with steroids and adrenaline but it didn’t work. Ria said: “One minute they are giving her drugs and the next I am in the resuscitation unit being told they expected her to stop breathing. I was devastated and just kept looking at my beautiful baby willing her to keep fighting. They said if she did stop breathing they would take her to theatre and try and save her but they said they couldn’t promise. I was in bits.” The doctors decided to try Ivyalice on a very high dose of adrenaline to see if it would improve her condition and Ria was told they needed to “wait and see”. Over the next hour intensive care staff, paediatricians, a doctor and an ear, nose and throat specialist watched Ivy-alice “like a hawk”. Ria said: “Thankfully the adrenaline worked and the gasps became manageable, her oxygen levels rose and her heart rate dropped. After much consideration we were allowed to move from Intensive care to the Baby Unit.” “It was such a relief that she was going to be OK. I cant believe how close we were to losing her and I dread to think what would have happened if I hadn’t have called for help. I just didn’t know how serious croup could be.” Ria decided that she wanted to raise awareness of croup and posted her experience on her Facebook page. Within days she was inundated with messages of support and stories of similar experiences from parents who weren’t aware how serious croup could be. Her post has since been shared nearly 23,000 times and liked by more that 10,000 people. She added: “I have never in my life been so thankful to our NHS and the absolutely amazing staff at Bath RUH who had a plan and worked so hard to keep my baby girl with us. She never gave up. She is a true fighter. “The medical staff weren’t surprised when I explained I didn’t realise it could become so serious and they agreed there isn’t enough awareness.” Ria has set up a Facebook page Croup Awareness & Support UK.