‘Trust your instincts’: Suffolk mum’s warning amid winter virus fears

A Suffolk mum whose baby was hospitalised with breathing difficulties is urging other parents to “trust their gut” this winter, as doctors warn thousands of infants are entering the colder months without protection against serious respiratory viruses.

Lucy Wellings, from near Stowmarket, said she was forced to call an ambulance when her three-month-old daughter struggled to breathe after catching COVID-19.

"She started showing signs of distress in her breathing. We had a moment where I thought she'd stop breathing. So I'm so. I dropped to the floor with her. I'm dropping to my knees trying to make sure she was still breathing."

"They (hospital staff) put monitors on her, and I was just watching these monitors with her heart rate going crazy. It took a while to stabilise her. That was the first time she caught anything, and then she caught RSV at Christmas last year...you look forward to a child's first Christmas, and we spent it in A&E because she was very poorly."

Lucy told us the impact of this has meant her daughter is more likely to catch other illnesses.

"Both of those together have left her lungs quite weak, so now she catches a lot. She caught bronchiolitis earlier this year, and we had to get an ambulance again."

Despite this set back, Lucy says her daughter is a fighter.

"She was walking out this morning with my handbag hanging off her arm, demanding cheese strings. So she she is sassy, very sassy."

Lucy, who also shares her story on TikTok under @LucyWellings, hopes that speaking out, even about the hard parts of parenting, will reassure others and encourage more people to do the same.

"I think the conversations are really important, especially as parents, if things are being spoken about like your baby's sleep, you hear, everyone will say, 'Oh, my baby sleeps through the night.' But you don't always hear 'my baby won't sleep at all.' People don't want to tell you the horror stories, but actually, I think sometimes those can be the most important ones."

"More than 53,000 babies under the age of one were admitted to hospital with RSV last season"

Doctors including TV medic Dr Ranj Singh are warning that thousands of babies across the UK remain at risk from RSV, flu and COVID-19, despite existing NHS vaccination and immunisation programmes.

New figures from the UK Health Security Agency show more than 53,000 babies under the age of one were admitted to hospital with RSV last season, with 13% requiring intensive care.

• RSV hospitalisations of children <5 years old cost the NHS £93 million on average, and in the 2024/25 winter season(September 2024 to February 2025).
• RSV hospitalisations in under-fives cost the NHS an estimated £93 million annually.
• In the 2024/25 season, Flu was responsible for 53 paediatric deaths, higher than the 2023/24 season.
• 60% of babies in England will contract RSV before their first birthday.
• Babies born prematurely are three times more likely to need hospital admission due to RSV, and ten times more likely to require intensive care, compared to full-term babies.
• Unequal protection means babies are entering this winter unprotected.

The report also shows the belief that closing the protection gap "isn’t just a health equity issue; it’s key to relieving winter NHS pressures and preventing avoidable hospital admissions."

Charity Bliss, which supports families with premature or sick babies, says the pressure of having a seriously ill child can be devastating.