1:58 AM
Anonymous
A young mother-to-be who developed agonising blisters all over her body was shocked to discover she had a rare allergy to her own baby.
Zuleika Closs, 26, developed a burning, itchy rash all over her body when she was 20 weeks pregnant with her son Emmanuel.
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| Zuleika said: 'I sometimes have flash backs to the pregnancy but I only have to look at Emmanuel (pictured at two-days-old) to know all the pain is worth it' |
The mother, from Falmouth, Cornwall, said: 'At first, it felt like something was crawling on my skin but then it became unbearable. The blisters looked like nettle rash at first but spread really fast and became dark and red.
'My feet were the worst. I scratched so hard that large chunks of skin kept falling off. It was peeling off like orange peel.'
After antibiotics and calamine lotion didn't help to ease the itch, doctors wrongly diagnosed her with a severe case of scabies and gave her insecticide to use. She was also told to boil wash all her clothes and put her shoes in the freezer, but to no avail.
'I was so itchy, I was scratching myself in my sleep. I was exhausted and couldn't cope.
'I remember standing in the doctors waiting room in floods of tears wishing someone would help me.
I felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall because nothing was working.
'I think they thought I was a hormonal pregnant woman but it really was that bad.'
Her partner Nathan Darbyshire, 23, a care worker, lost shifts at work because he didn't want to pass the scabies on to colleagues and patients.
At 38 weeks, Ms Closs went into labour but says she was scared to hold her baby because she thought she might pass the rash onto him.
She said: 'Skin to skin contact is really important with newborns but I didn't want him to catch it. I blamed myself and thought it was something I'd done.'
After Emmanuel was born, the rash died down but then days later it flared up again.
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