Baby Gianna was having her nightly bottle when 'horror' unfolded: 'She started turning blue'
By Kate Kachor|
When Jane Miller heard screams from her baby daughter's room she rushed down the hall. What she saw next remains etched in her memory.
It was one night in December in 2021 in South Carolina when Miller's husband, Matthew, was giving their five-week-old daughter, Gianna, her last bottle before bed.
All of a sudden Miller heard Matthew scream out. Gianna wasn't breathing. The young couple would experience a nightmare four minutes as their child experienced a 'brief, resolved, unexplained event', or BRUE.
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Miller? shared the couple's harrowing story to raise awareness and help educate others.
"My husband was giving our daughter, Gianna, her last bottle before bed," the vet technician wrote in a post to Australian-based baby first aid Instagram page, Tiny Hearts Education.
"All of a sudden I heard screaming from the nursery, 'Jane quick, she's not breathing'. I ran down the hall and my husband was standing with Gianna face down giving back blows, trying to stimulate her to breathe.
"She was unresponsive and limp like a rag doll."
Miller said she scooped her daughter in her arms and attempted to give her back blows, but did not get a response. Gianna's lips and her face started turning blue.
"Her lips and her face started turning blue," Miller wrote.
"I immediately ran to grab my phone and dial 911 for emergency assistance. While on the phone, my husband started doing CPR with chest compressions and breaths. That was incredibly heart-shattering to watch."
"I remember thinking in that moment that we had lost her. I'll never forget the blue/grey colour of her face. It is forever ingrained in my memory and is horrific to think back on."
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While on the phone with emergency services, Gianna started to bring up some milk.
"It was coming out of her mouth and nose, so I turned her over and swept the back of her throat to clear her airway. She started to cry," Miller wrote.?
Four minutes had passed after phoning 911, Miller recalling how the couple's street was lined with emergency vehicles.?
"The response team ran in through the front door and took Gianna in their arms. She was pale as a ghost, but she was alive. I was in tears in the back of the ambulance, completely overwhelmed with the whole experience," Miller wrote.
"They told us that she suffered a BRUE (brief resolved unexplained event) likely caused by reflux when feeding. The doctor said they see this happen quite often in infants - which is terrifying to think."
Many of Tiny Hearts Education's more than 300,000? followers empathised with the Millers, sharing their own experiences with BRUE.
"My daughter had this at 36 hours-old worse day of my life. Never forget that moment," one follower wrote.
"So glad she's still with us 2 1/2 years later."
"We also had a terrible experience. The trauma stays with you for a long time and it's ok to be hypervigilant with your child and super protective when others try to hold or feed your baby," a second shared.
"Important not to be pressured by social expectations and for others to respect your space after such events. Wishing happiness and health to this family."
Tiny Hearts said BRUE refers to an episode in an infant less than 12 months old.
The episode usually lasts between 20 and 30 seconds, less an a minute.
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The signs to watch out for a BRUE episode include: Marked change in breathing - decreased, irregular or absent, Change in level of consciousness - drowsy or unconscious, Change in muscle tone - tight or floppy, and Change in skin colour, pale or blue.
"It is common for no specific diagnosis to be made. The most common cause of these events is thought to be exaggerated airway reflexes when feeding, caused by reflux, or increased upper airway secretions," Tiny Hearts wrote in an explainer post.
Miller said Gianna recovered and was discharged from hospital the following day.
"It was the most stressful, horrific four minutes of my life," Miller wrote.
"Looking at your baby and thinking you just lost them is the worst pain I have ever experienced. I hope other parents can see this story and realise just how important it is to educate yourself on what to do in an emergency."
In February last year, the family were reunited with the first responders who helped save her life.?
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