Grieving mother reveals she had to watch her baby girl die of slapped cheek syndrome just two days after she was born – before being told she ‘could been saved with a simple test’
- WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
- Lyndsey Smitherman, 30, from Kent, was left heartbroken by daughter’s death
- Infant was just two days old when she died from slapped cheek syndrome
- Lyndsey now wants blood tests for virus to become routine for pregnant women
- Parvovirus B19 is common in children, but can prove fatal to unborn babies
A grieving mother is campaigning to raise awareness of a common childhood virus that can prove fatal to unborn babies in the hope of stopping others going through the same ‘atrocious ordeal’.
Lyndsey Smitherman, 30, from Kent, was left heartbroken after her daughter, Sophie, died just two days after she was born in December 2018.
She and husband, Sam, endured an agonising two-month wait before autopsy results revealed the infant had died from parvovirus B19 – also known as slapped cheek syndrome.
Now the couple have released the last tragic photographs of Sophie, in a bid to raise greater awareness about the virus.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
Sophie Smitherman died after two days from parvovirus B19, also known as slapped cheek
Lyndsey and Sam Smitherman were left heartbroken after the death of their daughter, Sophie, from parvovirus B19
Lyndsey was tested and traces of the virus were found, with doctors believing that she passed it on to her unborn baby at 31 weeks.
Slapped-cheek syndrome, which is spread by coughing or sneezing, is common in children and causes a rash, as well as a fever, runny nose and sort throat and a headache.
It is rarer in adults and can be more serious, leading to joint pain and stiffness.
However, while rare and only affecting 1 to 5 percent of pregnancies, the virus can prove fatal to unborn babies.
Sam was unaware that Sophie had contracted parvovirus B19 while still in the womb
If an unborn child contracts slapped cheek syndrome, there is just a 10 percent survival rate
If the virus is transmitted in early pregnancy, it could lead to miscarriage, while in later stages there is only a 10 percent chance that the baby will survive.
Lyndsey and Sam have now launched a petition calling for pregnant women to be given routine blood tests for the virus.
Speaking to the Sunday Mirror, Lyndsey detailed how her daughter struggled to breathe after being born by cesarean.
The young infant’s platelets had not been formed properly, meaning she was bleeding and required 38 blood transfusions over two days.
Sadly, her other children, Jack-James, six, Annabelle-Violet, five, and Meadow, four, never got to meet their sister.
Lyndsey now hopes that if testing for Parvovirus B19 during pregnancy became routine, it would help other women avoid the same tragic outcome.
She said: ‘I wish I had been tested for it because then I would still have her here.’
The campaigning mum added: ‘She probably would have been saved if I’d had the test beforehand and they had given her a blood transfusion while she was in me.
‘As soon as we found out it was Parvovirus B19, I was going round and telling everyone I knew that was pregnant to get tested.’
For a link to the petition, click here.
The parents are also fundraising for the Oliver Fisher Special Care Baby Trust and for the push to have more checks during pregnancy – to donate to the gofundme page, click here.