How Clare – and baby Freddie – survived dangers of swine flu

"Like any mother, the first thing you think about is the health and well-being of your baby," says Clare. "The diagnosis came as a complete shock, but the first thing I wanted to know was how it was going to

affect Freddie."

But at eight months pregnant, doctors at York Hospital told her her baby could be delivered safely, it was her life they were worried about.

"It took a while for it to sink in, but then I thought, 'I have swine flu, now get over the shock and get better.' It was a mental thing as well as a physical one. I knew that I had to get better for Freddie, Oliver and my husband Andy," says the BBC Look North Breakfast and Politics Show presenter.

But just days earlier Clare, 43, really thought that she might die. At one point she even told Andy to look after the boys and tell them that she loved them if she died.

It was last Christmas Day. She had been working the day before and was looking forward to Christmas with Oliver, five and Andy at home near York.

"I had four more days' work to do before going on maternity leave as Freddie was due on January 28 and I was looking forward to Christmas as it was Oliver's last before Freddie arrived."

Clare woke up at 4am on Christmas morning, her normal waking hour when working on Breakfast.

"I felt really bad," she says. "I knew it wasn't the normal pregnancy tiredness. I

knew this was different." Andy sent her back to bed and got on with cooking the Christmas turkey.

"Andy had to wake me at 1pm and there was this amazing Christmas table groaning with food. I took one look at it and said I was sorry but I just couldn't eat any of it."

By 7pm Clare was becoming increasingly concerned about her baby.

"Freddie was normally very active and I hadn't felt him move for a long time."

They decided to go to hospital where doctors thought Clare may be suffering from pre-eclampsia. "They put me in a room by myself. By now Freddie hadn't moved for four hours. I was feeling terrible but I wasn't worried about me, I was worried about my baby."

Two days went by and Clare continued to deteriorate.

"They put a buzzer on my pillow in case I needed a nurse, but I didn't have the strength to lift my arm to reach it. I just kept thinking, 'Stay awake, stay awake. So long as you don't go to sleep you will be okay.' I really thought if I went to sleep I would not wake up. Freddie was still not moving and I really thought I was not

going to make it. I thought if I could make it to 6am I would be okay."

When the doctor came in at 6am, she took one look at Clare and commented how poorly she looked.

"I asked her to give me some water and said that I felt like I had really bad flu as everything ached. My entire body has swollen up and it was clear there was something really wrong with me."

It was the height of the swine flu epidemic and Clare was immediately tested and within half an hour they confirmed she did, in fact, have swine flu.

"I had a feeling of disbelief. I hadn't shown any of the symptoms. I just couldn't believe it. We had talked about me having the swine flu jab and spoke to three different doctors about it and they all had a different opinion. In the end, it wouldn't have made any difference because it would have been too late to take effect.

"My first reaction to the diagnosis was the implications for Freddie. I had read reports in the region of women miscarrying and even dying, but my whole thought process at that time was about Freddie. After Oliver, I was told it was very unlikely that I would be able to have any more children. I was desperate to have another baby so when I did get pregnant with Freddie at the age of 43, it meant everything. He was the baby we had longed for, and then to get swine flu after everything was unbearable."

It was then she was told that whatever happened they could deliver her baby, but it was her health they were concerned about. She was moved to an isolation unit and only Andy could visit her, although she could speak to Oliver on the telephone and she tried to reassure him mummy was going to be okay, although she didn't feel all that confident herself.

"There was no television or radio and all I had to do was think and worry about Freddie or the fact that I might leave Andy on his own to bring up two boys. My headache was so bad I couldn't see out of my right eye. But I realised that I had to have the mental strength to beat this. I knew I had the best medical help I could have."

Throughout, her consultant Jim Dwyer was visiting her and reassuring her. Freddie's second name is James after the doctor.

"He came to visit me over the Christmas break when I knew he should be off. He said as soon as I was better they would deliver Freddie."

Freddie was born by elective Caesarean on January 21 weighing a healthy 7lb 4oz and Clare says as soon as he was delivered she started to

feel better.

"They told me that it would take six months for our immune systems to work properly again and they were right," says Clare, who is due to return to Look North on September 13.

She says humorous text messages from her colleagues really helped her cope with what she was going through in isolation and she cannot praise Jim Dwyer or the staff at York Hospital enough.

"They were all incredible especially as they were operating on skeleton staff over Christmas," she says.

Clare, who studied politics at Hull University before starting a journalism career in regional broadcasting, believes her physical fitness before her pregnancy and her mental strength helped her to pull through. Now, as she comes to the end of her maternity leave, she is like every other mother returning to work after having a baby and getting ready to juggle motherhood and a career.

Her unusual hours means that she can be home by 9.30 so Freddie hardly realises she has been gone. Andy, an accountant, does the early shift and they have a woman who comes in to help when he is working away.

Proud big brother Oliver constantly cuddles his baby brother and tells me they recently celebrated Freddie's six month birthday with a cake and one candle. Freddie is a happy contented baby who eats for England and beams widely at the camera.

It is an idyllic family scene which could have been so different.

"You never forget the moment your baby is born," says Clare, "but I have more reason than most to remember Freddie's birth."

VIRUS THAT SPREAD ACROSS GLOBE

Swine flu is the common name given to a relatively new strain of influenza (flu) that caused a flu pandemic in 2009-2010.

It is also referred to as H1N1 influenza.

Swine flu became a pandemic in 2009 before it died down in spring 2010.

A pandemic means a disease that spreads around the globe.

The virus was first identified in Mexico in April 2009. It spread quickly from country to country because it was a new type of flu virus to which few people had full resistance.

The 2009 swine flu virus proved to be relatively mild and the pandemic was not as serious as originally predicted. Most cases reported in the UK were mild. Only a small number led to serious illness and about 250 people died, and these were mostly in patients with existing health problems that had already weakened their immune systems.

Experts now believe pregnant women are at greater risk of contracting swine flu and the Government is advising they have the vaccine.