Mother shares newborn's sudden health scare to help other babies

Tonight, 7-week-old Alicea is at home and in her mother's arms -- a much different story than a week ago -- when what mom thought was a common cold -- turned out to be much more.

"I noticed Alicea's nostrils were flaring, I took her out of her car seat and pulled up her dress and noticed her ribs were caving, and it was very scary,” said Jenna Kuntz, the newborn’s mother.

Kuntz took her baby to Frick Hospital, and Alicea was airlifted to Children’s Hospital. There, she tested positive for respiratory syncytial or RSV.

According to the Centers for Disease and Prevention, RSV appears to be a common cold in most healthy people. But for babies like Alicea, it infects the lungs and breathing passages.

"With babies who may have had previous breathing conditions, or (who are) young, or sometimes it hits them harder than other children."

Kuntz shared the video of her daughter’s symptoms on Facebook. Since being home from the hospital, the post has been shared more than 60,000 times.

“We try not to think about what could have happened,” Kuntz said, “But we are definitely blessed that at the moment she had distress, we were looking at her.”

She hopes that by sharing her baby’s story, it could help answer questions from other parents.

“If we could help another mother be able to detect early any signs of distress in their babies, then it makes it worth it,” she said.

Officials with Children’s Hospital of Pittsburg said there are many cases of RSV popping up. The chief of infectious diseases said this is the peak season for RSV, and this is a typical time of year in most parts of the country.

Cox Media Group