8-Week-Old Baby Dies Of Sepsis After Doctor Sends Her Home

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A heartbroken mother has spoken out about how she woke up to find her eight-week-old daughter dead from sepsis – just hours after being ‘fobbed off’ by an out-of-hours doctor.

Emma George had taken her baby, Felicity to a hospital urgent care center, after she had a temperature, was not feeding and was becoming difficult to rouse.

Emma described how the ‘patronising’ doctor conducted a cursory examination before sending the  mother and daughter home, adding: ‘You look like a sensible mother, if she gets any worse bring her back tomorrow.’

Within 12 hours, the Mother and her husband Lee, 29, woke to find their daughter had stopped breathing.

The child was taken back to Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley, West Midlands, but nothing could be done to revive her.

A post-mortem revealed that the infant had died of sepsis, caused by pneumonia.

George, who found out she had been pregnant with the baby while on honeymoon, said she was speaking out to ensure ‘no other parents go through the same ordeal’.She added:

‘A mother’s intuition is key – the doctor is not always right. People need to trust their instincts.

‘I knew there was something wrong with Fliss but the doctor was horrible.

‘He looked at her and took her temperature but did no other checks. 

He told me there was a six-hour wait at A&E and said, “You look like a sensible mother, if she gets any worse bring her back tomorrow”.

‘I trusted the doctor and took my daughter home, where we carried on her normal routine. But when we woke up the next morning, our world shattered.

‘She had turned blue and wasn’t breathing. We called an ambulance and they took her to hospital, where they did all they could, but she was gone.

‘I have never felt so lost and broken in my life.’

The couple, who believe that their baby could have been saved if more physical checks were carried out by the medic, haslodged a complaint with Dudley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which is being investigated.

Emma added: ‘I don’t want any other families to be fobbed off like we were.’

The Georges met 3 and a half years ago when each already had a son, now aged seven and four. They went on to have another boy together and said that Felicity made their lives complete.

In January, when his wife was 5 months pregnant with their daughter, Lee had a vasectomy.

Emma said that although they would like to try for another baby, ‘not to replace Felicity but to mend our broken family’, an application to have the vasectomy reversed was rejected.

The couple lodged an appeal and have also contacted Dudley South MP Mike Wood, who has also written to Dudley CCG, to request that ‘in the light of the very exceptional and unique circumstances, the decision for the NHS not to fund the reverse of the vasectomy is reconsidered’.

However, despite the support from their MP, the couple are ‘less than hopeful’ that their appeal will be successful.

They have even started a JustGiving page to raise £3,500 to fund the operation.

George said: ‘We just want to make our beautiful angel a proud big sister.’

Sepsis and septic shock may result from an infection anywhere in the body. The lungs, urinary tract, abdomen, and pelvis are the most common sites of infection which lead to sepsis.

Laura Broster, director of communication and public insight at Dudley CCG, said: ‘We would like to offer our condolences to Mrs George and her family. The complaints raised by the family are currently being investigated by Dudley CCG on behalf of the family and it would not be appropriate for us to comment any further.’