My baby had meningitis - doctors refused to listen to me

“The signs were truly there, and I was saying it to the doctors, but I wasn't listened to. My concern was not taken seriously,” Brisbane mum Shiva says. 

Shiva knew something was wrong when her four-month-old baby Mytilini screamed in pain in June 2022.

Suffering from a respiratory illness for 12 days, the baby was arching her back and stiffening her body whenever she was placed in her pram. 

Over the next few days, the Brisbane mum became increasingly worried, and without the 4mo showing any signs of recovery, she took her to the GP. 

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The 4mo had a fever and was arching her back in the pram. Source: 7News

Mum told Drs “five times” she believed her 4mo had meningitis

“She started to have these symptoms where every time I would try to put her into the pram, the car seat, the bumbo chair, or if I tried to change her nappy — any position that curved her spine — she was resisting,” Shiva told 7News. 

Taking her to the doctor, they instructed her to get a urine sample from the baby, but as Mytilini’s symptoms only worsened, Shiva went straight to the QCH, where they discovered she had a 39.1C fever. 

Arriving at 3pm, doctors gave the baby Panadol to bring down her fever. “She ended up seeing a doctor at 6pm and then until we were discharged by 7.15pm,” Shiva told Daily Mail. 

She told “at least five” doctors she was certain her baby had meningitis, but she claimed her suggestion was rebuffed. Instead, they told her the baby “must just be coming down with a virus.” 

Because Mytilini didn’t have a typical sign of meningitis - a bulging fontanelle - the health professionals told Shiva to let the virus “run its course” and to follow up with their local GP at a later date.

“According to what I now know, that's a late sign, and there are specific reasons for babies that age to not have a bulging fontanelle because of gravity,” the mum-of-two said. 

RELATED: 'I spent 8 minutes on hold with Triple Zero after my 4mo stopped breathing'

Her condition quickly deteriorated before being diagnosed with meningitis. Source: Daily Mail

Mum’s concerns “not taken seriously” by QCH

The family took baby Mytilini home, where her condition failed to improve. She would bring her knees to her chest, and her forehead began bulging “like an egg.” 

When the 4mo was at home, she would “scream when she saw light” and “did a big vomit.” She was rushed back to the QCH, where Mytilini was diagnosed with meningitis. 

She was treated with an IV and antibiotics, making a full recovery. 

“I will always be thankful to the doctors who saved my girl's life that night, and to the infectious diseases doctors and the paediatrics team who treated her as she recovered slowly over the next 12 days,” Shiva said, per Daily Mail. 

“I am grateful for every second with my daughter now – I know that she was truly lucky to recover, and I recognise that not every family will have that experience.” 

She sent a letter to the Queensland Health Minster, Shannon Fentiman, explaining her daughter “was treated 48 hours later than she should have been.” 

“The signs were truly there, and I was saying it to the doctors at QCH, but I wasn't listened to," she said. "My concern was not taken seriously.” 

The Brisbane mum argued the hospital should have given her baby a lumbar puncture, which can determine if a child has meningitis.

The hospital disagreed and argued they could not give a lumbar puncture to every baby that has a fever. 

Three reviews were made at the QCH, the hospital confirmed, but all reports found “no fault with the care provided by Queensland Children's Hospital.” 

“The advice from those reviews (was) that the care, at the time, was appropriate,” said Fentiman, per 7News.

Originally published as My baby had meningitis - doctors refused to listen to me