When a mom from Brazil dropped her 4-month-old baby Emanuelle Calheiros Maciel off at daycare, she never would have guessed that it would be the very last time she would see her baby alive.
The Mother was only going to be gone for two hours, but what happened during that time was tragic.
An hour after the Mother dropped off her daughter at the daycare, she received a photo from the employees holding her baby, saying that she was doing just fine.
As soon as the Mother arrived at the school to get her daughter, one of the employees informed her that Emanuelle was in a very deep sleep. The Mom ran to her daughter, but realized it was too late – her baby was already purple.
The Baby’s uncle told G1 that the nursery could not call an ambulance, so they had to walk to the hospital, which was about two blocks away. When they arrived there, the doctors did everything they could, but the sweet baby was already dead.
He also told the news reporter that the mother took an anti-reflux pillow to the daycare for the baby, however when they saw the crib, they noticed the pillow wasn’t being used.
They also later found out the daycare didn’t even have a license to be in business.
The Medical Legal Institute of Campinas figured out that baby Emanuelle was in fact a victim of food suffocation.
According to G1, the mass of food was quite huge and had blocked the child’s airway. However, the only thing the daycare workers told the mom was that the baby wouldn’t take her bottle. The Civil Police have recorded it as a “suspicious death.”
Bronchoaspiration is when a person inhales food, stomach acid or saliva into their lungs. It can cause suffocation and pneumonia. The foreign fluid or mass may contain bacteria that affect the lung.
Symptoms usually occur within two hours of inhalation:
- Wheezing
- Breathing noise
- Vomiting
- Sore throat
- Chest discomfort
- Night fevers
- Chronic cough
- Excessive salivation
Steps To Take If Your Child Is Choking
Between the ages of one to five, children often put objects in their mouth which is a totally normal way for them to explore the world. Small objects such as coins, marbles and beads are just the right size to get stuck in a child’s airway and cause choking. It’s important to keep small objects such as these out of your little ones way, however, mishaps do happen and you need to be able to help your child if it does.
In the majority of cases, you may see your child actually swallow the object that causes choking. However if you don’t and if your child begins to cough for no apparent reason such as being ill, there’s a chance that they are choking.
Tips to help a choking child
- If you are able to see the object your child is choking on, try to remove it. Do not poke the object with your fingers as you make matters worse by pushing the object further which will make it harder to remove.
- If your child is coughing loudly, encourage them to carry on coughing and don’t leave them alone.
- If the coughing is not effective, shout for help immediately and check whether they are still conscious.
- If he or she is still conscious but not coughing effectively use back blows
- Give the child up to five back slaps. Hit them firmly on their back between the shoulder blades. If back slaps do not displace the object, you will need to perform abdominal thrusts.
- Give the child up to five abdominal thrusts. Hold the child around the waist and pull upwards and inwards above their belly button. If abdominal thrusts do not dislodge the object, go back to back blows and then perform abdominal thrusts once again.
- Call out or send for help if the object has not dislodged after three cycles of back slaps and abdominal thrusts, but do not leave the child alone.
Even if the object has come out, you will need to get medical help. Part of the object might have been left behind, or your child might have been hurt by the procedure.
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