Edward Gili should be having his first birthday on 27 May 2015, his Mummy & Daddy, Fiona & Scott, are running 10k on 24 May in the park Fiona walked around every day this time last year to encourage him to come out & meet us. Each kilometre will be dedicated to one of the nine wonderful days we got to spend with our beautiful son, and the final one will be for each other.

WE ALSO WANT TO RAISE AWARENESS OF STREP-B - PLEASE HELP

The reason why Edward isn't here with us, and never even came home with us, is because he got an infection called Group Strep-B whilst he was being born. 

Have you heard of Strep-B? Neither had we until after Edward was born. Yet Group B Strep is the UK’s most common cause of severe bacterial infection in newborn babies, and of meningitis in babies under 3 months. And it is usually easily preventable. But information is not routinely given to mothers about it and the UK, unlike many countries (inc USA, Australia, New Zealand, France, Spain) do not offer tests to pregnant women at around 37 weeks, to check for Strep-B. 

Finding out whether a Mum is carrying group B Strep late in pregnancy is safe and easy, as is good preventative medicine (antibiotics in labour). We need to be doing more in the UK.

Ask your local maternity units what their policy is for preventing GBS infection in newborn babies and understand the risk factors

• Mothers who have previously had a baby infected with GBS
  
• Mothers who have been shown to carry GBS in this pregnancy or GBS has been found in the urine at any time during this pregnancy
  
• Labour starts or membranes rupture before 37 weeks of pregnancy is completed (i.e. preterm)
  
• Where there is prolonged rupture of the membranes – more than 18 hours before delivery **
  
• Where the mother has a raised temperature during labour of 37.8C or higher 
  

WHAT WE WANT TO HAPPEN

• Every pregnant woman to be given information on group B Strep as a routine part of her antenatal care. This rarely happens in our experience
  
• Every low-risk pregnant woman to be offered a sensitive test for GBS colonisation at 35-37 weeks of pregnancy without charge (and, where these tests are not freely available, all pregnant women should be told that these tests are available privately).  This rarely happens in our experience
  
• Every higher-risk pregnant woman (those identified as carrying GBS, those who have had a baby with GBS disease, and those where recognised risk factors above are present) to be offered intravenous antibiotics from the start of labour until delivery. For those women whose babies are at highest risk to be recommended to have intravenous antibiotics at the start of labour. This did not happen for Edward. 
  

THANK YOU FOR RAISING YOUR AWARENESS OF THE RISKS OF STREP-B

PLEASE PASS IT ON TO OTHERS

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