Many new parents enjoy taking their baby out for a walk but Amy and Ben Meredith from Hartlepool are going one step further and planning to clock up 100 miles this month in a bid to raise awareness of a rare liver disease which affects babies.
Their daughter Ella appeared perfectly healthy when she was born in August, but when she was nine days old, Amy became concerned that she was lethargic and not feeding.
“I couldn’t get through to my midwife so called 111 for advice and they advised me to take her to paediatric A&E,” explains Amy. “So, we took her to North Tees hospital and as I was changing her nappy after a blood test, a senior doctor noticed that her stool colour was very pale – kind of clay coloured. We had never seen this before but even if we had, however, I’m not sure if we’d had raised it as a concern. New parents are given a lot of advice, but no-one ever tells you to check the colour of your baby’s poo.
“The doctors explained that pale stools in newborn babies can be a sign of biliary atresia, a rare and serious liver disease, and said it was lucky we had brought Ella in when we did, as it needs to be treated as early as possible. They liaised with the specialist liver team at Leeds Children’s and ran various tests.
“Happily, all these tests proved negative, Ella’s symptoms have disappeared and doctors have now told us she’s ‘perfect’ which is wonderful for us to hear. We were disturbed, however, to realise that, as new parents, we were completely unaware of the symptoms of this life-threatening condition. It was also surprising to realise how many doctors and nurses had not heard of it either.
“We thought we’d like to raise some awareness of this condition as well as funds for Liver UK, the charity who support families who are affected. We both enjoy walking – even more so now we have Ella – so when we discovered December 1st is Biliary Atresia Awareness Day, we decided to aim to walk 100 miles in the preceding month so that’s what we’re doing! We want all new parents to know that pale poo in a newborn baby means you must seek immediate medical attention.”
Michelle Wilkins, Head of Children’s and Families Services at Liver UK commented: “We’re delighted to hear that baby Ella is well and very grateful for what Amy and Ben are doing to raise awareness of liver disease in babies. If biliary atresia is detected early, surgery can take place which can delay the need for a liver transplant for many years. Our Yellow Alert campaign is all about identifying liver disease in babies and we have a wealth of information and free resources available to parents and health professionals.”
Information on how to spot the signs of liver disease in babies is here .
You can support Amy’s 100 mile walk in November at Amy Meredith is fundraising for Liver UK
