"My child is disabled for life after I caught chickenpox while pregnant"
A mum who caught chickenpox during pregnancy - which doctors dismissed as “just a virus" - has spoken of her anger after her daughter was born with disabilities.
Anna Martin, aged 31, visited her GP and A&E on five different occasions with symptoms but says she was repeatedly told she had “just a virus”.
Her daughter Genevieve was later born with congenital varicella syndrome, a rare condition caused by chickenpox infection during pregnancy.
The three-year-old now lives with serious health problems and had part of her leg amputated as a baby.
Anna, a secondary school teacher from Chesterfield, is now taking legal action against Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and her GP surgery and has launched a petition calling for changes to NHS guidance.
She said: “What should have been a normal, joyful pregnancy became a nightmare because of a preventable failure in the system.
"We were let down by the NHS, by my GP surgery and by Chesterfield Royal Hospital.
"Most of all, we were let down by a policy that values assumption over simple testing - a policy that continues to put pregnant women and their babies at risk.”
Anna was five weeks pregnant when her daughter Josephine contracted chickenpox.
Anna soon became seriously ill with fever and flu-like symptoms and went to her surgery explaining she had been exposed – but says she was repeatedly told it was “just a virus”.
Anna added: "I went to my GP and was asked whether I’d had chickenpox as a child.
"I explained that I wasn’t sure; my mum thought I probably had, but there was no certainty. I was told it was likely a virus and sent home.
"Over the next week, I returned to the GP twice more as my symptoms didn’t improve and my fever wouldn’t settle. Each time, I was reassured that it was a virus and sent home again.
"The next day, I noticed a painful spot behind my ear and went straight to the hospital.
"I was isolated in a side room and told it looked like chickenpox, but staff were unsure how to proceed.
"I was left for several hours without care. I was then transferred to the Women’s Health Unit, which had actually closed shortly before my arrival.
"I was left waiting on a corridor with a locum healthcare assistant before being reluctantly allowed inside, and I was repeatedly told I shouldn’t have been brought there as I was a risk to other pregnant women.
"They reluctantly swabbed my rash but still gave me no treatment and sent me home.
"It wasn’t until the following evening, after I took myself back to A&E again, that I was finally given antiviral medication.”
By the time chickenpox was finally recognised, it was too late.
Genevieve was born in November 2022 with congenital varicella syndrome.
She was also born with longitudinal limb deficiency and fibular hemimelia, which meant she has a shorter right leg and three toes on her small foot.
When she was 14 months old, Anna and her fiancé Iain Lewis, 32, made the difficult decision to amputate her right foot.
Genevieve, now three, is now also at high risk of various learning difficulties, secondary sight and hearing loss as well as limb deformities.
Anna said: "Many pregnant women, like myself, are unsure of their chickenpox status and are left at risk when exposed to the virus.
“This is a massive flaw in the system – and one that cost my daughter dearly.
"If I had been offered that simple blood test at my first GP visit - or even my third - my infection could have been recognised in time.
"Antiviral treatment could have been started earlier and the condition could have potentially been prevented.”
Despite the challenges, Anna says her daughter remains full of life.
She added: “She is currently doing well. She suffers with fatigue and pain and spasms most nights but she is mobile in moderation and full of light and laughter."
Anna has submitted a complaint and medical negligence claim against the hospital and health centre and has launched a petition calling for the NHS to revisit its policy on testing pregnant women exposed to chickenpox.
Krishna Kallianpur, Chief Nurse at Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: “We continue to work with representatives of Ms Martin in respect of the care of her daughter, and the concerns she has raised with us.
"As the investigation and legal process continues it would be inappropriate to make further comment.”