A mum-of-five says she was 'lost for words' when a medic mistakenly diagnosed her newborn son with an STI. Jenna Barnes was left wondering if her musician husband had cheated on her while she was pregnant following the shock diagnosis but after a 'confused' phone call, it later became clear that they had been given the wrong results.
Jenna, 43, of Manchester, initially took baby Fletcher to hospital for a check up when his eyes became "gunky and stuck together". He underwent tests to determine what was causing the issue and Jenna was told her the tot had tested positive for gonorrhoea, and that it would have been passed on by a parent before the tot was born.
The revelation led her to believe that husband, Chris, 45, had been unfaithful. Jenna confronted Chris, who is the front man of a tribute band, and he insisted he hadn't strayed. Jenna, a lingerie and costume designer, said: "The midwife asked: ‘Have you been tested?' and I said: 'For what?' She told me: 'It’s coming up that your baby has gonorrhoea.'
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"I was gobsmacked when she told me - I was lost for words. I instantly started Googling the illness and knew having sex was the only way of contracting the disease.
"Strangers always grill me and ask how I cope with Chris being in a band and on tour where there's so much temptation. Up until that moment, I had never doubted his loyalty once. I still trusted him 100pc but did start to think what on earth had gone on.
“I have complete trust in my husband but when a medical professional tells you have tested positive for an STI, you don’t question it. Chris and I were relieved when we discovered it was an honest mistake, but in our heart of hearts we knew it was wrong."
Jenna claims that Chris is "more into tea and slippers than coke and strippers" but she still texted him after the diagnosis to ask if they could talk. After revealing the diagnosis on the phone, she said Chris responded: “How the f*** has that happened? I know you’ve not done anything, you’re at home with five kids.”
The couple had both calmed down and talked it through - they came to the conclusion it must have been a mistake as neither had slept with anyone else. Luckily, the same midwife was set to visit Jenna at home later that day and she enquired again about the diagnosis.
The midwife looked at the system on her laptop to double-check the result. "She said: 'Oh no I’m sorry, I read it out as positive instead of negative," Jenna said.
"I was relieved and I wasn't angry at all, but that's because I'm the most laid back person, Chris and I both are. Chris was also relieved and his whole tour bus had been teasing him about the saga."
Fletcher’s infection was caused by bacteria commonly carried by babies and cleared up within 10 days with antibiotics and eye drops. Jenna said: “I was relieved for myself, my husband but most of all our baby.
“I was so worried because I had read online gonorrhoea can cause blindness. I’m such a chilled out person so the midwife was lucky she had done it to me and not somebody else.”
Chris admitted to being the 'most boring man in rock 'n' roll' and said that 'liasing with the ladies' is not something that is in his nature. "I am admittedly the most boring man in rock 'n' roll," he said.
"I'm a vegetarian, I barely drink, and I don't smoke. I was going to the toilet on the tour bus, it must have been about 3am and I got a text from Jenna saying: 'Why have I got the clap?'
"We spoke on the phone, and I thought 'how on earth has this even happened?'. I was confused but I never doubted Jenna's innocence.
"I was worried she would think I had been out liaising with the ladies, but everyone who knows me knows it's not in my nature. After the initial shock we knew it must have been a mistake and that somebody had got the paperwork wrong and that was confirmed by the midwife later on.
"Everyone on tour was laughing because it was me this happened to - one who is up first and in bed first. We saw the funny side of it and bang our drums for the NHS - they're only human and everyone makes mistakes."
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust said: "ELHT are extremely apologetic for the oversight, sharing the incorrect result primarily although promptly rectified. This was a case of human error. We are glad mother and infant are both thriving and send them our best wishes for the future."
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