As told by her mother, Lindsay

I am a first time mom to a beautiful, 5 month old, baby girl, Molly. At the end of August, she was diagnosed with C. diff after a week and a half of constant diarrhea. Her pediatrician at that time told me some babies just have bowel movements after every feeding. My baby was going every hour! After one sick visit and frequent calls to the pediatrician’s office, we were advised to change her formula to soy. I brought a diaper with me to the office, but it was not tested for a possible infection. I was told over and over again it was either a virus or a reaction to her formula. Two weeks prior to this, I had stopped nursing, so formula in general was new to Molly’s digestive system. I listened to the pediatrician and changed her to soy formula, but the diarrhea continued with the same intensity.

The clock continued to tick and every day she seemed a little worse. I noticed a gradual decline in Molly’s overall demeanor. She was quiet, stopped babbling/cooing, didn’t smile as often, and was not blowing her silly bubbles. She is a strong girl, so she was not overly fussy and never developed a fever. To others, she may have appeared fine. In my gut I knew something was wrong. Finally my pediatrician suggested we try to see a GI, but I was told that it was not an emergency. Disregarding my pediatrician’s lack of urgency, I called a GI that day and was able to have Molly seen that afternoon. We had the test results back with a positive for C. diff the next day.

Molly was treated with Flagyl for 10 days. She responded immediately! We were ecstatic! Two weeks later, the C. diff returned. I will never forget that moment. I walked into her nursery in the middle of the night and I could smell it. My heart sank. As a new mom, I had never experienced this type of overwhelming helplessness. Why could I not fix this? I told my husband at 2am with absolute certainty that it was back. He laughed it off and said I was crazy. I knew and unfortunately, I was right. She again had C. diff.

We started the second course of Flagyl the next day. Molly again responded quickly to the antibiotics. She has been off the medication for 2 weeks. I am constantly sick with worry that it will come back again. When will I stop being paranoid? I bleach and wash everything she comes into contact with, but it makes me insane that I cannot see the spores; where they may be hiding in our home. Does she still have it? Her GI will not retest her unless she displays symptoms. We have started a probiotic in hopes that it will help a reoccurrence. Molly is the sweetest and happiest baby. She should not have to go through this this young.

We have since changed our pediatrician. We are now seeing one with more of an understanding of the infection and the rate of reoccurrence. He feels strongly that Molly developed C. diff as a result of Clindamycin transferring through my breast milk. I was prescribed the antibiotic a few days after I delivered her due to an infection I developed around my episiotomy. My obgyn assured me I could continue to nurse and Molly would be fine. Had I known the potential risks of taking an antibiotic while breastfeeding, I would have stopped to protect her.

I am eager to educate others about this infection and how antibiotic use plays a huge role in its development. Nursing mothers should never rely on their physician’s word that an antibiotic is safe without doing their own research. Today, Molly is laughing and smiling, so my family is able to take a deep breath and enjoy our little fighter!