A mother whose baby contracted her oral herpes in the womb has described her terror after he was born 12 weeks early, looking “burnt all over” and blind in one eye. Brooke Hale, 28, from Bristol, said she feared for her son’s life after Luca was born with “red raw” skin and weighing just two-and-a-half pounds (1kg) on December 11, 2023, at St Michael’s Hospital in Bristol.
Doctors initially thought Luca had a rare skin condition, but tests on Brooke’s placenta revealed he had been infected with HSV1, a type of herpes associated with cold sores. Both Brooke and her husband Luke, 41, a plumber, have the common lifelong virus, which affects around 70% of the UK population, but they never thought it could be passed on during pregnancy and have two other daughters Sofia, five, and Bella, three, who were not affected.
While HSV1 is often harmless in adults, it can be life-threatening for babies because their immune systems are not yet fully developed. Luca, who spent 12 weeks in St Michael’s neonatal intensive care unit, lost sight in his right eye after the virus spread to his cornea and is now being drip-fed medication around the clock to prevent flare ups.
He is one of just a handful of babies to develop the condition in vitro every year and is “lucky to be alive”. “Luca was two-and-a-half pounds when he was born, so he weighed two bags of sugar basically, which in itself is quite scary,” Brooke told PA Real Life.
“His skin looked like it had been burnt all over – it was red raw, and he was obviously tiny. But he is the happiest boy – he’ll have an operation and be laughing straight away like nothing seems to phase him.”
Brooke said she is really looking forward to spending Christmas with her family as last year Luca was in hospital. “It feels like Luca’s first Christmas even though it’s technically not,” said Brooke. “We put the decorations up last weekend – it was quite emotional.”
The couple were looking forward to growing their family after Brooke fell pregnant in May 2023. Her first two scans, at around 10 and 20 weeks, showed Luca to be “healthy” with no cause for concern.
But when Brooke went for a 4D ultrasound on December 8 2023 at the Window to the Womb in Bristol, doctors could not see Luca clearly because of an “increased amount of cloudy fluid”. Later that evening, Brooke started experiencing “pains” every few hours, which intensified over the weekend.
She attended St Michael’s Hospital where doctors examined her cervix and suggested Brooke was likely experiencing “Braxton Hicks contractions”, also known as practice contractions. They said it’s just Braxton Hicks… there’s nothing to worry about, you just need to carry on and it will go,” said Brooke.
Days later on Tuesday evening, while Luke was putting Sofia and Bella to bed, Brooke sat down on her bed and felt a “massive gush”. “I didn’t scream because obviously the girls were there,” she said. “I put my hands down below and it was just blood, so I grabbed a towel and we jumped in the car. It was quite scary really.”
When Brooke arrived at the hospital, doctors examined her and confirmed she was in labour, at 28 weeks, or 12 weeks earlier than expected. She was transferred to a private room and given medication through an IV to slow her contractions and speed up Luca’s brain and lung development.
But the doctors grew increasingly concerned for Brooke’s welfare as her heart rate was higher than expected. “My bloods had come back showing some kind of infection but they didn’t know what,” said Brooke. “So they decided to stop the contraction drip and let him come.”
Luca was born at 9.05pm on December 12, his father’s 40th birthday. “It took him a good five minutes to breath on his own and they took him straight from me and put him in what looked like a plastic bag to keep him warm,” said Brooke.
“I remember just looking at him and at that point I started crying because it was a lot to take in.”
Brooke went to see Luca the next day in the intensive care unit. “I remember walking in and it was very quiet, you could hear every beep,” she said.
“When I saw him, I just started crying because he was in quite a graphic state. His skin was so sore, every time you touched him, he just squealed…and they were spraying him every four hours with Vaseline.”
Doctors suspected Luca was suffering from a rare skin condition and contacted experts at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London for a second opinion. When Luca was born, Brooke’s placenta had been sent to a laboratory for examination as it was “very swollen”.
The results showed Luca had HSV1, also known as the cold sore virus or oral herpes. “I suffer with cold sores and so does my partner,” said Brooke.
“I was very, very shocked because I didn’t expect something like that to transfer inside the womb.”
It is estimated around 70% of the UK population carry one type of herpes virus, according to the NHS. While the virus is rarely serious for adults, it can be extremely dangerous for a young baby as their immune system is not fully developed.
“It’s so dangerous for babies,” said Brooke. “All of the consultants at the hospital say he’s a miracle because if you look at pictures of his skin then and now, the progress is phenomenal.”
In total, Luca spent 12 weeks in hospital before being discharge on February 22. Sadly, Luca lost sight in his right eye after the infection spread to his cornea, the clear front part of the eye. Earlier this year, October 10, Luca became the youngest patient to have a cornea transplant at the Bristol Eye Hospital.
There are only around 6.9 cases of neo-natal HSV per 100,000 live births in the UK, according to research published in the British Medical Journal in 2021. “It’s very, very rare for the HSV1 virus to transfer in the womb – the consultant said they had never seen a case at St Michael’s before,” said Brooke.
Brooke has to remain “very vigilant” as Luca sometimes experiences “flare ups” which could prove fatal if left untreated. “Any temperature or fever, I have to call his consultant because the virus could spread to his brain and cause meningitis,” she said.
Earlier this year, in October, Luca was fitted with Picc line, a small tube in his upper arm to administer intravenous (IV) medication. Every morning at around 6:30am, Brooke hooks Luca up to a 24-hour pump that releases small doses of drugs every hour.
Brooke praised staff at St Michael’s Hospital, saying they were “really good at keeping in touch” and looking after Luca. She has launched a fundraiser on GoFundMe to help raise money for the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, which has so far received more than £7,000 in donations.
“I can’t believe Luca is almost one,” said Brooke. “Just thinking that a year ago we were going through all of that emotional stuff.
“It’s been one hell of a year, that’s for sure.”
To support Brooke visit: www.gofundme.com/f/knmsr-nicu