A devastated mum has issued an urgent warning after her healthy three-month old baby died just hours after she took this happy picture of her (https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/mums-warning-after-healthy-baby-dies-just-hours-after-smiling-in-happy-photo/ar-AAAQx8e?li=BBoPWjQ&ocid=mailsignout)
Fleur Edwards was completely fine and happy when she went to sleep in her cot alongside her parents.
But the 13-week old tot never woke up.
The day before Fleur died the family had attended a fundraising event for a relative.
Mum Emily Vandenbrouck, from Paignton, Devon, said: “Fleur had been held and kissed by lots of people that day – probably somebody held her who hadn’t washed their hands after using the toilet.
“I just want to raise awareness so that other families don’t have to go through the heartache that we go through every single day.”
© Provided by Trinity Mirror Shared Services Limited Mum Emily Vandenbrouck says Fleur had been held and kissed by lots of people the day before she died
Fleur had been featured in a happy family photo and been feeding normally and laughing just hours earlier.
But her condition deteriorated over the course of the night and it was later revealed that she had developed a fatal Group B Strep infection.
Now her grieving family and friends are holding a ‘Fleur’s First Birthday’ event to raise awareness of the condition that killed her.
Emily said: “She went to sleep completely happy and normal. No temperature. There was not a single thing wrong. She never woke up.
“She loved her sleep and slept through the night. She was the model baby. She was in our room. It was her dad who found her first. I grabbed her and did CPR but I knew as soon as I looked at her she was gone.
“We thought we were dreaming. For a couple of weeks I kept trying to wake myself up.
“That photograph was taken at 6pm the night before – it is very precious because it’s the only one of us all together.”
© Edwards family / SWNS A post mortem at Great Ormond Street Hospital for children found Fleur had died of a Group B Strep infection
Now family and friends including dad Ashley Edwards, sister Layloa, eight, and Rhys, five, have rallied around to help mark Fleur’s first birthday with a fete at Foxhole Community Centre on May 12 between 11am and 3pm.
Emily said: “This is my way of marking her birthday – it’s difficult to know what to do when your baby has died.”
The fundraiser will have four bouncy castles, golf, mascots, a DJ, children’s entertainer, face painting, hair braiding, glitter tattoos, forest school and a giant raffle with hundreds of pounds worth of prizes.
Doctors were surprised by Fleur’s death because even a spinal tap showed no sign of infection.
Eventually a post mortem at Great Ormond Street Hospital for children found Group B Strep.
Now Emily is trying to warn as many parents as she can about the infection and is angry about the lack of knowledge for mums.
She added: “I think it’s disgusting. Pretty much 90 per cent of people don’t know about this. I cannot believe how hushed up it is. I am a mother of three and I had never heard of it.”
“Fleur was the most content, smiley, model baby. She loved her sleep and she was very greedy – I was breastfeeding her and she got chubby very quickly.
“My mum said when she was born there was a magic about her.”
