A Bristol mother has shared the harrowing experience of her baby contracting oral herpes in the womb, leading to a premature birth at 12 weeks early, with the newborn appearing “burnt all over” and blind in one eye.
Brooke Hale, 28, recounted the fear she felt for her son’s life when Luca was born with “red raw” skin and a weight of merely two-and-a-half pounds (1kg) on December 11, 2023, at St Michael’s Hospital in Bristol. Initially, doctors suspected Luca had an uncommon skin disorder, but subsequent tests on Brooke’s placenta disclosed that he had contracted HSV1, a strain of herpes commonly linked to cold sores.
Brooke and her husband Luke, 41, a plumber by profession, carry this widespread lifelong virus, which affects approximately 70% of the UK population. They were unaware it could be transmitted during pregnancy, as their other two daughters, Sofia, aged five, and Bella, aged three, were unaffected.
HSV1 is typically benign in adults, but due to their still-developing immune systems, it poses a grave threat to infants. Luca endured a 12-week stay in the neonatal intensive care unit at St Michael’s, where he lost sight in his right eye after the infection reached his cornea.
He now requires continuous medication administered via drip to stave off further outbreaks. He is among the rare few infants each year who contract the condition in utero and is considered “lucky to be alive”.
Reflecting on the gravity of the situation, Brooke told PA Real Life: “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. 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 expressed her excitement about 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,” Brooke shared. “We put the decorations up last weekend it was quite emotional.”
The couple were excited about expanding their family after Brooke became pregnant in May 2023. Her initial two scans, at approximately 10 and 20 weeks, indicated that Luca was “healthy” with no cause for concern.
However, during a 4D ultrasound on December 8 2023 at the Window to the Womb in Bristol, doctors were unable to clearly see Luca due to an “increased amount of cloudy fluid”. Later that evening, Brooke began experiencing “pains” every few hours, which escalated over the weekend.
She visited St Michael’s Hospital, where doctors examined her cervix and suggested that 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,” Brooke recalled.
Days later on a Tuesday evening, while Luke was putting Sofia and Bella to bed, Brooke sat down on her bed and felt a “massive gush”. She explained: “I didn’t scream because obviously the girls were there. 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.”
Upon reaching the hospital, medical professionals examined Brooke and confirmed she was in labour at 28 weeks, a full 12 weeks earlier than anticipated. She was moved to a private room where she received medication via an IV drip to slow her contractions and expedite Luca’s brain and lung development.
However, doctors became increasingly worried about Brooke’s well-being as her heart rate was higher than normal. Brooke revealed: “My bloods had come back showing some kind of infection but they didn’t know what. So they decided to stop the contraction drip and let him come.”
Luca made his entrance into the world at 9.05pm on December 12, coinciding with his father’s 40th birthday. Brooke shared: “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. I remember just looking at him and at that point I started crying because it was a lot to take in.”
The following day, Brooke visited Luca in the intensive care unit. “I remember walking in and it was very quiet, you could hear every beep,” she recalled.
“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 had concerns that Luca might be afflicted with a rare skin ailment and sought further insight from specialists at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Upon Luca’s arrival, the placenta of his mother Brooke was dispatched to a lab for analysis due to its “very swollen” state.
The findings revealed that Luca was infected with HSV1, commonly known as the cold sore virus or oral herpes. Brooke disclosed: “I suffer with cold sores and so does my partner. I was very, very shocked because I didn’t expect something like that to transfer inside the womb.”
According to NHS data, approximately 70% of the UK population is carriers of some form of herpes virus. For adults, the virus typically poses minimal risk, but it can be perilous for an infant whose immune system is yet to fully mature.
“It’s so dangerous for babies,” Brooke remarked. “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.”
Luca endured a 12-week hospital stay before being released on February 22. Regrettably, Luca’s right eye lost vision when the infection reached his cornea, the eye’s transparent frontal section.
On October 10, earlier this year, Luca became the youngest individual to undergo a cornea transplant at Bristol Eye Hospital. In the UK, there are roughly 6.9 instances of neonatal HSV for every 100,000 live births, based on a study 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,” Brooke shared. She has to stay “very vigilant” as Luca occasionally experiences “flare ups” which could be life-threatening if not addressed promptly.
“Any temperature or fever, I have to call his consultant because the virus could spread to his brain and cause meningitis,” she explained. Earlier this year, in October, Luca was equipped with a Picc line, a small tube in his upper arm used for administering intravenous (IV) medication.
Every morning, around 6:30 am, Brooke connects Luca to a 24-hour pump that dispenses small doses of medication every hour. Brooke commended the staff at St Michael’s Hospital, stating they were “really good at keeping in touch” and caring for Luca.
She has initiated a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, which has so far garnered over £7,000 in donations.
“I can’t believe Luca is almost one,” Brooke expressed. “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.”