Three weeks after the birth of her second daughter in autumn 2019, 35 year old Emily Perry from Maidenhead, Berkshire became seriously ill with sepsis. 

Emily picks up her story, ‘I felt very unwell. I’d not felt right for a week but assumed it was due to a complicated birth. (I had an emergency caesarean section with complications due to my placenta being embedded in my uterus wall. I had received a large transfusion during the emergency surgery following the birth.) 

I felt a bit like I had flu but very suddenly my condition deteriorated. My younger sister, Abi, was living with us at the time to help with the new arrival and she called 111. Part way through the call she realised I needed an ambulance and called 999. My temperature was over 42 degrees when they arrived and I genuinely thought I was dying, the shivering was uncontrollable, and I couldn’t move my hands and feet. I was taken into hospital and my sister was left alone with my three week old and my 20 month old’ 

The diagnosis of sepsis came from a doctor in the hospital the morning after I arrived. It was a shock. I had thought perhaps I had internal bleeding from my surgery. I didn’t really know what sepsis was but what I did know was that it was very serious 

The situations was very stressful and difficult for my husband Steve. He had worried about losing me during the birth so for this to happen only 3 weeks later was very hard. My sister was quite traumatised by the experience and diagnosis too. I am sure that if she hadn’t been there when it happened then it could have been a different story. 

I stayed in the post-natal ward of Wexham Park Hospital in Slough being treated with IV antibiotics and paracetamol every few hours. It took a few days before staff were able to identify an antibiotic that the infection would respond to and for the antibiotics to start working. I had 8 cannulas in my arms and hands, as well as a newborn baby, who was exclusively breastfed, to look after. It took a few days to get my fever down and for the antibiotics to start working. The care that I received  was fantastic though and I’m eternally grateful to the staff at Wexham Park and also the South Central Ambulance Service for saving my life. 

I stayed in hospital for just under a week. Once I was discharged, I continued on a course of antibiotics, as well as Fragmin injections (a form of Heparin used to reduce the risk of a stroke or heart attack). And I also received check-ups from my GP. 

I continued to receive ongoing treatment and surgery for the retained placenta for over a year after Tori’s birth and I struggled immensely with health-related anxiety and PTSD. Receiving counselling and treatment for this helped a lot though. I also underwent EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) therapy to help me deal with specific moments of trauma. 

My  sister Abi stayed with us for much longer than initially planned. I am forever grateful to her for putting her life on hold to help me recover. She kept me going! For me, walking was often the best medicine and taking time to build my confidence in my health again. I still find it very hard not to panic when either myself or my daughters get a high temperature or illness and not to jump to conclusions that it is something more serious. Living on a high state of alert for many months left me exhausted and I felt I lost a huge part of myself and became very low. 

The COVID-19 lockdowns gave me the space and time to start to recover both mentally and physically and removed the pressure to carry on life as normal. Life became much simpler and I felt that I could cope again! 

The source infection of my sepsis (e-coli) was identified fairly quickly but the cause of that never was. I work in recruitment specialising in senior roles within the NHS – a role I took as a result of my experiences over the last few years. I enjoy gardening and travel with my family (husband Steve and daughters Harriet and Tori, now 4 and 3). I am glad now to have no lasting effects from the illness, other than traumatic memories and being over cautious when it comes to those around me being unwell.  

I would really encourage other new mothers not to assume that feeling unwell after having a child is simply a result of the birth. Pregnant and post-natal women (particularly post c-section) are in a top risk category for sepsis and you could very easily dismiss the symptoms as I did, until it becomes much more serious.’