Already five days overdue with her third child, nursery worker Sarah Manning was sent to the government’s temporary swab-testing unit at Five Oaks on 3 April after displaying worrying symptoms – including migraines, a fever and a ‘raging sore throat’.
Her two eldest children had shown signs of coronavirus two weeks earlier, although neither were referred for testing, and the 31-year-old was left devastated last Monday when a call from Environmental Health confirmed a positive result. She was also told that her fiancé, Graeme Fitchett, would not be allowed to accompany her to the hospital for the birth.
Worries over the health of both herself and her unborn child dominated the days that followed, but with unwavering support from medical staff at Jersey’s General Hospital, baby Rocco Grey, weighing 9lb 10oz, was successfully delivered at 3.05am on Good Friday.
Today, Miss Manning, who was admitted to an isolation unit during her stay in the maternity ward, has expressed unreserved gratitude to those who ‘put their lives at risk’ to aid her family, while offering reassurance to others who could soon face similar circumstances.
She said: ‘Not once did I feel alone or scared while I was there. They are amazing people and we are so lucky to have all these doctors and nurses to protect us and look after us through such a worrying time. These are our true heroes.
‘A month ago my son, Beau (3), woke up in the night with a high temperature, breathing difficulties and a cough, so I phoned the out-of-hours doctor and he said he thought Beau had [respiratory infection] croup. He was reluctant about seeing Beau due to the virus going around and he prescribed him steroids over the phone. At the same time my daughter, Gracie (8), complained of a sore throat and was a little lethargic, but this only lasted a day.
‘After a dose of steroids Beau was much better but his cough lingered and a couple of weeks later, when I was heavily pregnant, I woke up with a raging sore throat.
‘Next followed a dry tickly cough. It was like I had something in my throat and I was tight-chested too in the evenings. I suffer with mild asthma so I started taking my inhaler a lot throughout the day.
‘I suffer with anxiety and it was through the roof. I was also suffering with panic attacks.’
Miss Manning added that she suffered from migraines and night sweats before calling the coronavirus helpline.
‘They spoke to the hospital and immediately phoned me back to say they would like me to get tested so the next morning I drove up to the swabbing station,’ she added.
‘I waited three days for my results and when the call came [on Monday, 6 April] my heart sank.’
Miss Manning said the positive result brought rise to crippling uncertainty.
‘At this point I was eight days overdue and I was so scared. I burst into tears,’ she explained.
‘Loads of things were going through my head. “Will I be okay? Will my baby be okay? I can no longer have Gaz [Graeme] there to welcome his son into the world. I’m going to feel so alone.”
‘I called the midwives at the Bridge, who were amazing and so supportive, and from the day I found out I was positive for the virus my symptoms slowly disappeared. But I was still left with my dry cough and getting occasional night sweats.
‘On Thursday I was feeling myself again but I woke up feeling reduced movements, so I phoned maternity and an ambulance was sent to pick me up. The two lovely paramedics ran through a few tests in my home then took me to hospital where I was taken to the main entrance and met by a midwife and porters.
‘They re-swabbed me to see if I was still testing positive and after three hours it came back negative. I’ve never felt so relieved in all my life.’
However, staff within the maternity unit still adopted heavy precautionary measures while treating mother and child, including the use of full face masks.
Miss Manning added: ‘It was decided they would treat me as if I was still positive to protect all the nurses, doctors, mums and mums-to-be, so I was taken to the isolation labour room.
‘There was always a midwife in the room with me and the labour itself couldn’t have gone any better, but that’s down to the most amazing midwives who were there for me for the whole experience and made me feel at ease. They stuck by my bed through the whole ordeal. I cannot thank the midwives enough.
‘Also, to the anaesthetist who performed my epidural – I didn’t catch his name but he was so lovely and supportive – the paediatric doctor, the lovely paramedics, the porters, the cleaners, the kitchen staff and all our front-line staff working tirelessly to keep us all safe and well: thank you, thank you, thank you.’
And the name of the Fitchett-Mannings’ latest addition has turned out to be more fitting than they first realised, thanks to its association with a 14th century Roman Catholic saint with links to epidemics and illness.
‘We had settled on the name Rocco very early on in pregnancy,’ said Miss Manning. ‘But we’ve recently found out its meaning.
‘Ironically, the name Rocco was first borne by Saint Rocco, who was famous for nursing victims of the plague. Nowadays he is known as patron saint of the sick.’
