Whooping cough claimed my newborn’s life - no baby should suffer like my son

“They say time heals, but I don’t think we’ll ever really heal,” heartbroken Perth mum Naomi recalls. 

It was 1997 when Naomi welcomed her son, Blake, into the world.

Born in a local Broome hospital, her eldest daughter Teisha was instantly in love with her little brother. 

“[She] adored him,” Naomi said, who added the family had been “careful” to ensure their daughter had been up-to-date on her vaccinations. 

They planned to do the same with Blake, but he was way too young to be immunised yet. 

Want to join the family? Sign up to our Kidspot newsletter for more stories like this. 

RELATED: 'I believed if I fed my kids well - they wouldn’t get whooping cough'

Doctors initially thought Blake's cough was just a cold. Source: Supplied

Doctors thought baby’s persistent cough was just a cold

At five weeks old, Blake developed a cough. Doctors initially thought it was a cold, but Naomi and her partner weren’t as convinced. 

“Concerned, we pushed for more answers,” she said. The newborn was flown to Port Headland via the Royal Flying Doctors Service, but he soon stopped breathing.

“It was awful,” Noami, who now lives in Perth, recalled. 

Medical staff intubated him and put him on another flight to Perth, where he was taken via ambulance to intensive care.

“We were beside ourselves,” she said. “He looked so tiny in his little bed and so very sick.” 

Spending a week in the hospital, it looked like Blake was on the road to recovery, which “brought us some relief.” 

However, that sense of relief was short-lived, as Blake’s condition rapidly deteriorated.

RELATED: Dry, rattly, barking, whooping: How to decode a child's lingering cough

Blake's life support was switched off after seven weeks in hospital. Source: Supplied

“No child should suffer the way that Blake did”

Tragically, he was diagnosed with pneumonia and inflammation of the brain. “It all went downhill from there,” Naomi said. 

“He became malnourished as he was having so much medication pumped into him, and a baby can only handle so much fluid,” she added. 

The doctors “really did everything” to try and save Blake, who underwent several blood transfusions and had surfactant pumped into his lungs, but nothing was working. 

“We lost count of the number of drugs and medication they used,” Noami said. “Being so sick, he turned so many different colours – I called him my rainbow baby.” 

After seven weeks in the hospital, Blake’s family made “the agonising choice” to switch off his life support. 

He was 11 weeks old. 

“He had been fighting and fighting for so long with no improvement,” his mum recalled. 

“They say time heals, but I don’t think we’ll ever really heal,” she said. “We just wish so badly that no other child should suffer in the way that Blake did.”

RELATED: 'My son was too tired to breastfeed, then he spent 12 days in hospital'

"Whooping cough had taken Blake from us, and it’s something I’ll never, ever forget," mum Naomi said. Source: Supplied

“Whooping cough took our son from us, and it’s something I’ll never forget”

November 8 is Whooping Cough Day, and paediatricians are urging parents to watch for signs of the terrible disease. 

Known as the “100-day cough”, it’s a highly contagious bacterial infection that causes uncontrollable coughing and makes breathing exceedingly difficult. It’s more contagious than the standard flu and can remain in a person’s system for three weeks or until they complete a course of antibiotics. 

Coughing fits can sometimes be so severe they cause vomiting, incontinence and in some cases, broken ribs and hospitalisation. 

Just like little Blake, symptoms may not appear serious at first, making it even more serious if spread to others, especially those unvaccinated. 

According to the Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Sydney, Professor Robert Booy, summer is the prime season for whooping cough. 

He recommended practising social distancing if you are experiencing symptoms and to stay vigilant about whooping cough boosters.

According to a 2021 report, over 80 per cent of Australians can’t recall the last time they received a whooping cough booster shot.

“Australians should not only be alert to signs of infection but also check their vaccination status,” he said. 

Adults require a booster shot every 10 years to help protect themselves and others from whooping cough.

It’s not just to keep yourself safe from infection; it’s for those who are too young to be vaccinated yet, like Blake. 

“Whooping cough had taken him from us, and it’s something I’ll never, ever forget,” Naomi said. “It’s just a cruel, insidious disease that no child should ever have to deal with.”

Originally published as Whooping cough claimed my newborn’s life - no baby should suffer like my son