Girl born disabled after mom contracts chickenpox during pregnancy

By Ed Chatterton and Julia Rodgerson

A mom has told how her baby daughter was left disabled for life after she caught chickenpox during pregnancy, which bungling doctors dismissed as “just a virus."

Anna Martin, 31, visited her GP and A&E on five different occasions with tell-tale symptoms but says her concerns were repeatedly ignored and was never treated for the disease.

This led to devastating consequences and Anna developed a serious reaction, which resulted in her daughter Genevieve being born in November 2022 with congenital varicella syndrome - a rare and severe condition.

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.

Anna and her fiancé Iain Lewis, 32, made the difficult decision to amputate her right foot at just 14-months-old.

Genevieve, now three, is now also at high risk of various learning difficulties, secondary sight and hearing loss as well as limb deformities.

Anna has now launched legal action against Chesterfield Royal Hospital and her surgery and is calling on the NHS to protect expectant mothers.

Secondary school teacher Anna, of Chesterfield, Derbys., 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.”

At just five weeks pregnant, Anna’s daughter Josephine, five, came home from her childminder with chickenpox.

Anna soon became seriously ill with fever and flu-like symptoms and went to her surgery explaining she had been exposed – but was repeatedly told it was “just a virus” and no test was offered.

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 mom 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.

"I was swabbed and sent home to wait for a call from an obstetrician. When no one contacted me the next morning, I rang myself for guidance.

"Despite explaining how unwell and frightened I felt, I was advised to stay at home. I was told I could return to A&E if I felt I couldn’t cope, which I did.

More from this section

Can stress cause hair loss?

Daylight saving time and your heart: Why heart attacks spike after the spring time change

The states facing America’s biggest respiratory gap

"I was then admitted to the Emergency Medical Unit, where I was largely isolated, not allowed visitors and left without access to basic washing facilities."

The GPs were following current NHS guidance – that adults are only offered a blood test to check for chickenpox antibodies if they are absolutely certain they have never had the virus before.

Anna added: "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.

“Instead of being listened to or helped, I was refused treatment. I was left alone in a side room for hours.

"Eventually I was transferred to the Women’s Health Unit — who didn’t want to see me, telling me I was a risk to others.

"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.”

However by the time chickenpox was finally recognised, it was too late.

She added: "Something I find baffling when you consider that chicken pox is not a virus we test for in order to diagnose and the amount of adults now who would have clinical proof of the childhood illness is very rare.

"Instead, it was presumed I had it and therefore I was not tested until two weeks after showing symptoms and far too late to make a difference in my daughter contracting the illness.

“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 center.

She has also launched a petition on Change.org calling for the NHS to revisit its current policy to automatically test pregnant women for chickenpox antibodies when exposure is suspected, regardless of whether they think they've had chickenpox as a child.

She added: "What matters most to us, as parents, is raising awareness of how dangerous chickenpox can be in pregnancy and highlighting a clear gap in current NHS guidance.

"At present, NHS guidance recommends testing vulnerable adults exposed to chickenpox only if they are certain they have never had it before.

"As a mother, I find this deeply worrying. Many of us were never tested as children, and diagnoses were often based on memory or visual assessment alone. It is also possible to contract chickenpox more than once.

"We believe that pregnant women — particularly in early pregnancy — should be offered antiviral treatment while blood tests are being carried out, regardless of uncertainty about past infection.

"Had a more preventative approach been taken, my daughter may have been spared the disabilities she now lives with."

Krishna Kallianpur, Chief Nurse at Chesterfield Royal Hospital 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 continue, it would be inappropriate to make further comment.”