Gonorrhea in Babies

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae and the infection can be spread by contact with the mouth, vagina, penis, or anus. Anyone who has any type of sex can catch gonorrhea.

The bacteria grow in warm, moist areas of the body, including the tube that carries urine out of the body (urethra). In women, the bacteria may be found in the reproductive tract (which includes the fallopian tubes, uterus, and cervix) and can even grow in the eyes.

I didn’t know about this until I watched Robin Gibb’s ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’. His maternal great grandmother, Cecilia Lynch, had been a midwife and, whilst researching her life, he discovered a blot upon her record, a Central Midwife’s Board Penal Report – the papers for which were held in camera until 2013.

He realised that this restriction must be to protect a child and the family of that child but he did manage to get a sight of the papers – with all the relevant identifying detail removed – after a special request.

It transpired that Cecilia had been caring for a child who had an eye problem. The rules stated that midwives were able to handle almost any eventuality but if it had something to do with the eyes, they had to call the doctor in. Cecilia knew this but had not done so. She was looking after the child carefully but had not referred it to the doctors.

The reason for the rule was that some children could be suffering from ophthalmia neonatorum, an eye condition resulting from the mother having gonorrhea. The baby’s eyes get infected as it comes down the birth canal and Cecilia would have known that she needed to inform the doctor.

When the case was brought against Cecilian in 1937, G was a major public health problem. Because of the stigma attached to the disease and the difficulty in treating it, many cases went unreported which led to a nationwide sexual health campaign with midwives under orders to tell a doctor if they suspected a case.

There were probably about 60,000 new cases every year and if undiagnosed in the expectant mother, it could infect the eyes of the infant at birth causing blindness.

The notes showed that a doctor had visited the child when it was four days old and noted the eye complaint with the instruction to get in touch if they got any worse so, in Cecilia’s eyes, a doctor had been notified already so she had been given the green light to continue treating the child by bathing its eyes regularly.

A health visitor who saw the mother six days later noticed that the condition of the eyes had deteriorated and the baby was sent to hospital by which time blindness had occurred.

Being in charge of the case she was reported to the Central Midwife’s Board and had to appear before them. After a long and unblemished career, she was determined that she was not guilty of anything but they found her guilty of breaching the rule. Upon looking at the supporting evidence, she was given a caution and was able to continue as a midwife.

The case notes included character references for Cecilia from many of the doctors she had worked with – April 1937, I have known Nurse Lynch for three years and during that time have always found her to be highly efficient and conscientious in her work and good to her patients. As far as I am concerned she is the best midwife with whom I have ever worked.

She died just two years after the case and only three days before she was due to retire.

Her obituary – Death of Popular Midwife. Yesterday Nurse Cecilia Lynch should have retired from her practice but today her remains will be interred and her many acquaintance will be left with just the memory of one of the most popular figures in the district. She had attended numerous patients and assisted in bringing hundreds of babies into the world. Throughout the area she served, she was respected and admired by all with whom she came into contact.