by Kate Pounds

A woman lost her unborn baby and almost died after her toddler caught a rash-causing virus at nursery and passed it on.

Farran Wilkins and her partner Robert West, from Gravesend, were expecting their first baby together but lost their unborn child at 25 weeks due to the virus.

Farran’s daughter from a previous relationship, Maple, came home from nursery with fever, red cheeks, a runny nose and a rash, when the mum was 17 weeks pregnant in April.

The three-year-old was later diagnosed with slapped cheek syndrome, also known as parvovirus.

The illness mostly spreads through droplets like a cold. It is not life-threatening but can be to unborn babies.

In May, a routine scan showed Farran’s unborn baby, who she named Floss, was unwell.

The unborn tot was diagnosed with a life-threatening condition resulting from the parvovirus infecting Farran and passing to her in the womb.

Despite intervention Floss didn’t recover and was stillborn at 25 weeks, on June 14.

Farran’s life was also in danger as the baby’s illness was affecting her and her body was filling with fluid.

The receptionist is now sharing her story to raise awareness of the risks of parvovirus to unborn babies.

She said: “This was the most heartbreaking thing we’ve ever been through.

“We had to make a choice to terminate the pregnancy for medical reasons. It’s not a choice at all, it’s just horrible.

“Floss and I could easily have both died.

“There needs to be more awareness for healthcare professionals, educational staff and pregnant women - there needs to be a government campaign.

”Parvo is on the rise and nobody is aware of the risks. I had no idea it could cross the placenta.

“I had a sore throat and asked my GP about the risks but he said it would be fine, so he didn’t know the risks either.

“We’re all told about chicken pox but we need more information on parvovirus and it’s a bigger risk at the moment.

“If I had known the risks and known there was a parvo outbreak at nursery I would never have sent Maple there.”

Farran, 35, and Rob, 34, have known each other since they were teenagers and started a relationship in May 2022.

She has two girls from a previous relationship and Rob has an eight-year-old daughter.

Neither of them worried when Maple was ill with slapped cheek or when Farran had a sore throat.

But medics at Darent Valley Hospital spotted fluid in Floss’ stomach, in her head and around her heart at her anomaly scan at 22 weeks.

Farran was referred to Professor Ranjit Akolekar, a specialist in foetal medicine, at Medway Hospital.

He diagnosed Floss with a condition called hydrops – resulting from severe anaemia – in turn caused by parvovirus crossing the placenta.

When parvovirus infects a baby in the womb it causes severe anaemia, due to a lack of iron, so the baby’s blood becomes very diluted.

Floss’ blood was a light yellow colour instead of red, Farron said.

The unborn baby’s body becomes filled with fluid which is a sign of hydrops, a life-threatening condition.

Floss was going in to heart failure by the time she was diagnosed at 23 weeks.

Professor Akolekar and his team gave Floss a blood transfusion through the umbilical cord, but a scan 10 days later showed the blood was watery again.

Farron was also developing something called mirror syndrome, where her body was also filling with fluid, which was putting her own life at risk.

And Farron and Rob had to make the heartbreaking decision to terminate the pregnancy at 25 weeks after being told Floss would not be able to recover.

Farran said: “The care I received was amazing. They tried everything, I was completely in awe of what they could do.

“But even with the new blood she wasn’t able to fight the virus.

“We didn’t have a choice in the end she had been struggling with watery blood for too long.

“They said she would die of heart failure, and my life was at risk too.

“There was so much fluid in my legs that I couldn’t bend them - they were huge, and I looked full-term.

“There’s a terrible lack of information about parvo.

“So many pregnant women have children in primary school or nursery and parvo is a childhood disease.

Several reports say human parvovirus (B19V) cases increased across Europe last winter.

The risk to pregnant women is classed as low to moderate, with babies up to 20 weeks being at highest risk.

“Pregnant women and other high risk groups should be counselled about the risks,” Farran added.

“We need to be better informed - I just want to save more babies.”