A first-time mother’s maternal instincts kicked in instantly after giving birth to her son, and ended up saving her baby’s life.
Maddie Muhs, 32, lives in Houston, Texas, and four years ago gave birth to her first child, a boy, who she described to Newsweek as an “incredible” child.
Many mothers will describe the whirlwind of emotions that comes with welcoming a baby, and for Muhs, she was “a brand-new mom, never been postpartum before, already had no idea what to expect.”
But when, just hours after taking her son home from hospital, he began to act strangely, she very quickly jumped into mom mode, doing everything to advocate for her baby boy, who Muhs chose not to name.
“My son was unplanned, and I had really questioned if I was supposed to be a mom,” she told Newsweek. But this experience, so early on in his life “solidified for me that I was exactly where I was supposed to be.”
Muhs shares life as a mother to her Instagram account, @maddiethemomma, and a clip posted in August detailed the first heart-stopping days of his life.
In the video, she explained how she “knew something wasn’t right” just hours after bringing her newborn son home from hospital, and rushed straight to the ER.
There, she says she was “brushed off,” and was asked “multiple times” if she was a “first-time mom.”
But she stuck with it—and after eight hours in the ER, her newborn was found to have inflammatory markers indicating an infection. Things moved quickly then, with Muhs and her son sent to critical care, where he had “every test under the sun”—and four days later, they diagnosed him with Group Strep B from a urinary tract infection (UTI).
Group Strep B disease (GBS) is extremely dangerous for newborns, who generally exhibit symptoms on the day of birth. These symptoms include fever, difficulty feeding, irritability or lethargy, difficulty breathing, and a blue tinge to the skin, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Between 4 and 6 percent of babies diagnosed with GBS disease will die, even with care in hospital.
Pregnant women may be tested for GBS bacteria near the end of their pregnancy in a routine screening, with around 1 in 4 testing positive, but they usually don’t exhibit any symptoms themselves. In Muhs’ case, she said she had tested negative for the bacteria during her screening.
The baby boy was in critical care for 16 long days—and on the day he was discharged and allowed to go home, Muhs was told “that my quick thinking and intuition saved my baby’s life.”
She finished the video by urging mothers to “trust your instincts,” and explained in a caption that though years have passed, she still feels like the terror of her son’s first few days in the world feels like it “was yesterday.”
Muhs told Newsweek that as a new brand-new mother, she “thought my baby was dying and I was stuck inside the four walls of the hospital. When the doctors told me that I had saved my son’s life, I cried.”
Now, four years later, her son, “my little buddy,” is a “healthy, smart, and kind almost-four-year-old”—and a big brother to her second child.
Muhs’ video has been liked more than 22,000 times since being posted on August 8, and viewers flocked to the comments to praise her for her advocacy, one writing: “As a pediatrician I always tell parents of newborns that if your spidey sense is tingling then get your baby checked out.”
“I’m so proud of you for listening to that gut,” another said, as another agreed: “So glad you listened to your instinct.”
And as one summed it up: “Mama knows best.”
Muhs encouraged all parents to advocate for their children, even if, like her, they are initially dismissed.
“If I hadn’t trusted my intuition and [instead] chalked this up to ‘oh, I’m just a first-time mom’, my son wouldn’t be here. I would always rather be safe than sorry,” she said.
“You know your baby and children better than anyone. Intuition is a real thing. We are biologically designed to take care of our children, and we know when something is wrong.
“There’s absolutely no shame in wanting to make sure your child is okay. “
The post Hours After Giving Birth, First-Time Mom Realizes Something Is Very Wrong appeared first on Newsweek.
