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'Dead in your hands': Former anti-vaxxer’s emotional plea following newborn daughter contracting whooping cough

A brave mother has spoken out about refusing the whooping cough vaccine during her pregnancy and the devastating impact it’s had on her life.

The first time mother later went on to catch the potentially deadly disease and eventually gave it to her newborn baby girl, Eva.

“Within two weeks the cough became pretty scary, horror movie, coughing to the point of going blue, flopping in my hands, can’t breathe, not breathing for three minutes,” the clearly distraught mother explains in the clip.

The stunning admission was posted onto Gold Coast Health Facebook issuing a to warning to others. Source: Gold Coast Health/Facebook.
The stunning admission was posted onto Gold Coast Health Facebook issuing a to warning to others. Source: Gold Coast Health/Facebook.

The emotional mea culpa has since gone viral with more than 90,000 views since it was posted earlier in the day.

“They go red and from red they go blue, sometimes they go a bit black,” the mother laments in the footage speaking about her daughters daily struggles with the illness.

“For a moment there you think they are dead in your hands."

The stunning admission was posted onto the Gold Coast Health Facebook page issuing a warning to others against making the same mistake she did.

“I’ve been a very healthy pregnant woman, no problems, no complications, worked out, went to gym, ate very healthy, had a natural birth and somehow in the last two weeks of my pregnancy I managed to get whooping cough, I didn’t know,” she said.

The mother admits that after the birth of Eva she went to the doctor about a persistent cough and found out she had whooping cough.

The mother admits that after the birth of Eva she went to the doctor about a persistent cough and found out she had whooping cough. Source: Gold Coast Health/Facebook.
The mother admits that after the birth of Eva she went to the doctor about a persistent cough and found out she had whooping cough. Source: Gold Coast Health/Facebook.

“Unfortunately we have been in hospital for the last three weeks, um, yeah, Eva was diagnosed with whooping cough and yeah, it’s been a nightmare”.

“Somehow in the process of the last two weeks of my pregnancy I’ve managed to get whooping cough.

“A baby that just coughs, and coughs, and coughs.

“If I could turn back time, I would protect myself."

Meanwhile, vaccine stocks for whooping cough have been hit and miss for months as manufacturers struggle to meet demand, with more than 23,000 whooping cough cases reported in the last year.

“Whooping cough epidemics come every two to three years and certainly there was a spike in 2011 - and it seems to be sustained since that time,” said Rick Samini from the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.

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