'Go buy yourself a dress'. The GP's advice that landed Laura Byrne's baby in hospital.

Bachelor alumni Matty J has shared the dodgy doctor story of parents’ nightmares.

In Matty J’s podcast The Babble, which he co-hosts with Natalie Bassingthwaighte, the new dad recounted the parenting story that ended in his and Laura Byrne’s baby being taken to hospital for the first time – all because a negligent GP dismissed the parents’ concern due to them being “first-time parents”.

It began last week, when their seven-month-old daughter, Marlie-Mae Rose, was showing worrying symptoms. She had a fever, had broken out in a rash, and was refusing to drink.

The couple, who have been together since 2017, decided to take Marlie to their local GP.

"We were thinking, 'This is getting kind of serious now,'" the former Bachelor recalls.

But the doctor's response wasn't exactly what they were expecting: "He literally just looked at Marlie and laughed and goes, 'Ugh, you first-time parents, you get so worked up over nothing'."

The parents, still certain something wasn't right, suggested the doctor take Marlie's temperature. The doctor didn't think that was necessary, instead, giving some *more helpful* advice. (Read: not helpful at all.)

"To Laura, he goes: 'Be a good mum and go up to Westfield, buy yourself a dress and be in the aircon'," Matty J remembers the doctor saying last week.

Side note... you can listen to Laura Byrne's take on life after The Bachelor, life as an influencer and her experience with being a new mum. Post continues below.

"He barely even inspected her, he was just looking at her."

The new parents eventually conceded they may have been worrying too much, and headed home with no diagnosis for their baby.

"Two hours later, things took a really bad turn," Matty J says, adding that Laura insisted they go to the hospital.

Upon arriving, they discovered Marlie-Mae's temperature was 39.5 degrees before she was diagnosed with hand, foot and mouth disease - proving they weren't overreacting.

The next day, Matty J called the original GP, to let him know what happened.

"I called him up, and I said ‘Hey mate, I just want to make you aware you saw us yesterday,’ and he was like 'Oh yeah I remember, the first-time parents. How was Westfield?'

"And I was like, ‘Yeah, it was pretty f*cking good but we went to the hospital,' and he was like, 'Oh well, sometimes that happens'."

Matty J continues: "I just want to say mate, you didn't even take her temperature and that's the first thing they did at the hospital and she was over 39 degrees."

The doctor responded saying: "I’ve been practising medicine almost longer than you’ve been alive."

Matty J asked for a refund, saying he refused to pay $100 for "the worst advice ever."

Needless to say, the doctor wasn't responsive to his request, and Matty J is still waiting for his refund.

You can listen to Nova's podcast The Babble here.

Feature image: Instagram/@ladyandacat.

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