Mum’s warning after she mistook her baby’s serious illness for a cold

The little girl is just six weeks old.

It's natural for new parents to worry about every small cough or sneeze but it is worth being on the lookout for anything that could turn out to be more serious. A woman is warning parents to be vigilant after she mistook her baby's bronchiolitis symptoms for a cold. Bethany Foster from Stourbridge near Birmingham in the UK didn't think much of it when she brought six-week-old daughter Myah to the doctor with a gunky eye. The baby was prescribed drops and sent home, but took a turn later in the week. "On Saturday whilst at a Christmas party she had a coughing fit and her face turned purple for around 15 seconds," mum Bethany explained in a post on Facebook. She and her partner Harry got a late-night appointment with a doctor, who sent them to hospital. "Three nurses ran off with her to immediately get her straight on oxygen, I was told they're surprised she didn't end up in an ambulance. "We had no clue how serious this all was until that point." The little girl was diagnosed with bronchiolitis, an infection of the airways in the lungs that can cause serious illness in some children. Beth and Harry were advised that she'd be in a high-dependency unit at the hospital for up to a week. "There is nothing more heartbreaking," Beth said. "Even if your baby has a slight cough or cold, just get checked out. Please spread awareness as before all this we didnt even know what bronchiolitis was." You can find out more about bronchiolitis and other chest infections in our guide here.