Parents of children with congenital heart disease
Taking your child home
Parents described a mixture of emotions when taking their child home from hospital, either after surgery or after birth. Several couldn't wait to get home after being in hospital. One father describes feeling frightened at first of the responsibility of caring for their baby at home but said these feelings soon passed. A mother explains why she felt confident and relieved to be bringing their daughter home after surgery.
Felt confident and relieved to be bringing their daughter home.
Felt confident and relieved to be bringing their daughter home.
Father' It was, it was one of the best things I've ever had getting my family back under one roof.
Mother' We had Christmas again, didn't we? In January we had a big Christmas because we'd left Christmas half way though and we'd had all our decorations still up.
Father' Yep and I can remember because I was staying at home in the evenings to look after [our son], every night before I go to bed I'd look in her room and the cot was empty. And it was very, very difficult and you'd each night, you think well you know, maybe soon, maybe soon. And to actually get both of you back in under the roof, was the best feeling ever, it was just fantastic. It really was. Still with the knowledge that you know that there was gonna be many operations following and a lot more heart ache but it was it was a wonderful feeling to have everybody back under one roof, even though knowing it was only going to be for short period of time.
Mother' Yeah, but I think the other thing was is that I was very confident with her 'cos I'd stayed with her in hospital and I wasn't worried at all and they said to me, 'We won't send you home unless you're totally confident with what you're doing, with the medicine, with what you're doing with feeding but what I noticed when we came home was all of our friends and family were, oh, you know, you're not worried and oh, you're not putting her in her own bedroom are you? And we were like, well yeah. [Father' of course we are] And we were totally at ease where everyone else obviously as I probably would have been. They'd seen a, you know a baby's had a cardiac operation. 'Oh my god, you know, how are you going to cope with her at home where as to us, we'd seen her through it.
Father' We had to be very careful with her at home but it wasn't you know my understanding of it would have been you know we would have had; not to pick to her up, not to you know let her move around or anything or anything like that and it was no where near as restrictive as I thought it was [Mother' No] gonna to be after the first operation when she had the closed heart surgery, it was nasty and you had to be very careful. But even when we brought her home after the second operation on open-heart surgery, it was, you didn't need to be as delicate [Mother' No] as I'd imagined, you know it was.
One couple who were relieved that surgery had been successful were nervous about administering medicine at home, but knew they could phone the ward at any time if they were worried.
Felt relieved that surgery had been successful but nervous about administering medicine at home....
Felt relieved that surgery had been successful but nervous about administering medicine at home....
Father' I never thought we'd get there, I mean, I think, we're...
Mother' You didn't want to think to that stage, did you really?
Father'You never, you never thought that it'd actually, you never, I think we'd never actually sort of seen that. You, like I say, you never actually see past the problem. You know, you only sort of see the problem and you can't, you don't, you know, it's just such a, it was such a huge thing to get, to get over that when we did come home it was just, it was just a hard, it was just, it was just, it felt really strange because we can't actually believe that we'd made it.
Some mothers found it hard to cope with feeding problems, giving medicines, sleepless nights and worry about symptoms when their baby first came home from hospital. One mother had felt very alone even though she knew the medical support was there if she needed it. Another said she was excessively protective of her baby when they were first home after surgery but became more relaxed after a time.
She found it difficult to cope when she brought her baby home from hospital.
She found it difficult to cope when she brought her baby home from hospital.
I also, I had a wonderful Health Visitor who was very supportive. We were also lucky enough to have a paediatric district nurse who came out and checked on the baby, took his, monitored his stats and was also a great support for me as well. So we were very, very lucky to have her. My GP, she was also wonderful. But having said that I did feel very, very alone when, when I first went home from hospital and I found it hard to cope.
And I thought that well, things will get better as time goes but actually things didn't get better, I found it harder and harder to cope. Looking back now I realise that I hadn't, I hadn't bonded with the baby before he was born. I hadn't expected to bring him home, it was a real shock when I did. And it was almost as if he didn't belong to me as if he was just somebody else's baby who had been dumped on me who I had to look after. He just didn't feel like my child at all.
She was excessively protective of her baby when they were first home after surgery but she became...
She was excessively protective of her baby when they were first home after surgery but she became...
Parents were given the symptoms or signs to look out for when they took their child home. One mother, whose baby has Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, explains that she became obsessed with checking her baby's pulse. She felt overwhelmed with the responsibility of caring for him when she first brought him home from hospital but now she has learnt to cope when her son has an SVT episode.
Checking her baby's pulse rate and looking after her baby became all consuming when she first...
Checking her baby's pulse rate and looking after her baby became all consuming when she first...
My Health Visitor come every day for weeks which, that was a, that was a bit of a strain. My mum took lots of time off work and didn't leave my side. It sort of stopped me sort of living a normal life I think for them first couple of weeks. I'd sort of had all of these plans that I was going to, you know, visit my old work and I was going to see this person and that person and, and every day if we wasn't at the hospital somebody was coming here to see us. Or I had to go to the doctor's or had to go to the other hospital or someone wanted to have a look at him. So that was quite hard.
Apart from the actual shock of having a baby I seemed to have appointments coming out, I had Post-It notes everywhere. I've got to see this person, I've got to do this, I've got to do this. They wanted to check his blood so he had to go for blood tests. Yeah, them first couple of weeks were, I seemed to have lots of people, I'd, I'd met lots of new doctors and nurses. I never knew, because I was, he was under two hospitals I'd turn up at one hospital and think 'I don't know if I'm meant to be here or the other place'.
I wasn't getting much sleep because even when he was sleeping I was then watching him sleep in case something happened to him while he slept.
Describes how she has learnt to cope when her son has an SVT episode.
Describes how she has learnt to cope when her son has an SVT episode.
He's had one short attack of SVT which lasted 15 minutes. So in, in the grand scale of things that's really good because although he went blue, I mean literally like that, he, and he started crying and his colour just changed. I'd been really worried about how, how I would know when it happens, which I'm not now because after seeing him and seeing him just change colour like that there's no way that I could have mistaken it. And luckily it did only last for about 15 minutes. Which, it could have lasted longer. He could have had to go into hospital. So...
What did you do then?
Well, he was in, I was with my cousin and her children at my mum's and we was all in the garden and he was actually in my cousin's little girl's buggy. Which is blue. And at first, he was there and he was going asleep and he was having a bottle and I thought it was just the reflection from the buggy. And I was like 'he looks a bit blue' and her daughter, she's six, and is absolutely obsessed with doctors and nurses so was very ok I'm taking control of this which was good because she was making you laugh because I thought I was just over-reacting. And she was like 'Oh, he don't look well'. And I was 'No he doesn't, does he darling'. And I just sort of got him out and we, by the time we'd debated on was he blue, was he grey, is it the buggy, is it me, are we over-reacting? He had just got into such a state, obviously, they, what they say is that as they get older they can come and tell you. It's like having palpitations and they can go dizzy, they can faint, they might collapse.
But he did none of that. He just really, really cried and a cry that I'd never ever heard before. So I just thought, you know, it is. And I rung the hospital, said, you know, 'He's, he's fine now', this was after the event 'He's fine now but this is what happened'. And they said, you know, 'It sounds like he's, he's had one'. He has to go on like a 24 hour heart monitor every, well they doing it every 6 months now and just to see what his heart's doing and they said that if I wanted to take him up for monitoring. But he was fine after that so I decided not to which, you know, shocked myself because normally I, I'd normally be at the hospital saying 'Keep him in'. Because, I, you know, wasn't very confident. But I actually feel very confident with it now and, and, I thought no, he's fine. I checked his heart, his heart was fine and they said that if, if, you know, if he's likely to knock himself out of it. It's if he can't knock himself out of it that he needs to go to hospital or something.
So yeah, yeah, we, we just, I just took him home. We just went home and I just had him here quietly and didn't sleep that night. But he was fine. You know, he was fine. And it's only, he's only had one since when he, that was four months ago so, well he come off the medicine four months ago and the attack was about two months ago so, and he hasn't had one since, so. And they can't tell me if he's likely to, if he's not you know, they can't give me the answer to that. Which I accept now but, you know, they can't tell me. So, yeah, I live with it now. It's not, it's not all encompassing anymore.
Another mother explains that she needs to be aware of changes in her child's health because of the episodes of tachycardia he experiences.
Describes episodes of tachycardia her son experienced caused by his Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome.
Describes episodes of tachycardia her son experienced caused by his Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome.
He becomes really lethargic, he breathes really fast and he'll say 'my chest, my chest is banging' and he'll say put my hand on his chest. And he is just really lethargic, he can't sort of move off the settee or whatever. It is really strange, but I've read up about it and apparently usually Wolff-Parkinson-White it is not uncommon, but it mainly presents itself when you are an adult if you do lots of sport of you have lots of caffeine. You know you can end up in hospital and then they'll tell you, give you the diagnosis. What they often, what a lot of babies do and children is they'll breathe in and close the mouth and make a grunting noise when they are breathing out through their nose. And that is your body's sort of natural way of trying to slow the heart rate down and they can flip out of it themselves doing that and by lying on their front. So that is why he used to grunt in the first few days. Because the doctor said it was because he had a cold and it was all the mucus but the hospital later said it could of, that's just their sort of natural reaction to it.
Tell me a bit more these episodes when he has them, how long do they last?
Well, the last one lasted about 2 hours and then that was it. But obviously the first one had been going on for days, 2 or 3 days. And generally, yes it's probably about an hour and a half, 2 hours and I have never had to sort of rush him up to the hospital for them to give him Ademadine, I think is what they would give them, to bring it down to a normal rate. So we have been quite fortunate.
What sort of circumstances are you looking out for, would it still be the very raised pulse?
Yeah, like I say, he'd look quite grey in appearance and he would be breathing really fast but obviously I know what his heart rate should be so if I just take his pulse then I'll know how he is.
Many parents described being constantly anxious about their child when they were first home from hospital. At first it was difficult to learn which symptoms were related to their child's heart condition and cause for concern, and which were minor.
Many had gone back to the hospital, or telephoned the ward for advice about their baby's symptoms. Parents recalled that they had never been made to feel they were wasting doctors' time (see 'Follow-up').
Getting medical advice about symptoms can be more difficult if parents do not live near the specialist hospital and cannot easily take their child to the hospital. One mother who lives on one of the UK islands learnt that if she had concerns she could call the specialist and she has always found them willing to speak to her and answer her questions.
There is no specialist hospital nearby. If she has concerns she calls the specialist and she has...
There is no specialist hospital nearby. If she has concerns she calls the specialist and she has...
And I've never felt that people, that people here around me are experts, which they're not. They can't be experts in everything I mean I can't expect them to be. Whereas now, I feel as if I am much more in control of the situation. I am much more knowledgeable and if I have a problem now, then I don't hesitate to ring the hospital up. And I have done. I've got to no matter, how petty it might be, then I just ring up because I'm not prepared to just lie awake and cry at night and worry about things and I need to get an answer so. I mean, they are very good. I can ring up and there is always someone there that I can speak to and that can answer my questions. So I, I would, would now ring the hospital up in England and we have open access to the children's ward here, so if I do have any problems, we can just go down there and I can get him checked out. I mean they are very good, they're very accommodating, just not experts. But got lots of people, who live in England, who are in the same position, whereby they haven't got a specialised hospital on their doorstep, but at least with them, they can just jump in the car and drive, which is a bit hard, when you think you have to be air ambulanced across and I would never want to be in that situation again.
One couple describes an incident when they needed medical advice late in the evening and their local hospital could consult the specialist hospital.
Describe an incident when they needed medical advice late in the evening and the local hospital...
Describe an incident when they needed medical advice late in the evening and the local hospital...
In the middle of the night?
Mother' Yeah, [Father' Yeah] middle of the night, early morning. Sort of late in the evening. I think.
Father' But at one point had to have, a bit of lung tissue had come through her rib cage, sort of a hernia in her chest, which apparently can be post-op, can be quite normal but we rang. It's quite frightening to see 'cos as she was breathing this lump was just coming out of her chest. And we rang our local hospital and they said bring her straight up. The consultant was in waiting by the time we got there. They saw her and they double checked it with the specialist hospital on the phone there and then. Two consultants checked on the phone in front of me so they weren't keeping anything back. They explained it all, explained the next appointment we had. And the specialised hospital said that they'd examine it more closely but not to worry. And that, that was it basically. We weren't made to feel foolish or anything, you know, it was just, you know, it happens sometimes.
Several parents mentioned that when they took their child to their GP with some worry, they never had to wait for an appointment.
A few parents had taken a paediatric first aid course which had helped them to feel more confident in caring for their child at home.
Last reviewed July 2018.
Copyright © 2024 University of Oxford. All rights reserved.