Welsh mum Danielle Sampson has revealed that medical advice given on This Morning saved her baby's life. Danielle knew something wasn't right with her newborn Fletcher's breathing, and rushed her child to the hospital after 30 minutes. The incident occurred the day after Danielle gave birth following an intense 68-hour labour. Thankfully, when she noticed Fletcher's breathing sounded abnormal, she referred to advice on "rescue breaths" given by Dr Ranj on the ITV daytime show.
Before leaving the hospital there were no signs that Fletcher's airways were blocked or that there was a problem with his breathing. However, Danielle's eldest son David suffers from cystic fibrosis, meaning she is extra vigilant when it comes to respiratory issues.
Danielle remembered advice given by Dr Ranj
One of Fletcher's nostrils had become blocked with mucus, inhibiting his oxygen intake. Danielle explained to Wales Online: "He wasn't in any distress because of it, but I noticed he dipped in his breath and I just thought something was not right. My partner kept telling me to go to sleep because I had a hard labour and was tired, but I just couldn't. I don't know what would have happened if I had gone to sleep."
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The incident proved how helpful This Morning's health segments are
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Speaking about his condition, Danielle notes that her son was "lethargic" and his breathing was "rapid". She continued: "He was really lethargic and I tried to breastfeed him but he would not latch because he couldn't feed and breathe at the same time, he wasn't getting enough oxygen."
Danielle and her partner Fraser decided to take their son to the hospital, however, the newborn's condition took a turn for the worst during the 20-minute drive, with Danielle saying: "About ten minutes away from the hospital and that is when he went completely limp. He was lifeless, his eyes were rolling at the back of his head. I was tapping his bottom, and flipped him over on his belly just to get him to gasp but that is when I remembered they don't breathe through their mouth."
It was then that the doting mum remembered the rescue breaths manoeuvre, as demonstrated by Dr Ranj on This Morning. Danielle continued: "It just came to me instantly to do the rescue breaths. I saw the rescue breaths with Dr Ranj on This Morning and it must have been about two years ago now. I always have This Morning on in the background but it was one of those things that caught my attention."
Rescue breaths is a form of CPR that involves mouth-to-mouth administration of air. Although Danielle had received adult CPR training, Dr Ranj's advice applied specifically to children, and advised anyone performing the treatment to breathe over the mouth and nose of a child.
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