The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) is currently consulting on its updated guideline on group B Strep.
We will be responding to the consultation and want to make sure the views and experiences of families are heard.
If you have been affected by group B Strep, are currently pregnant, work in maternity care, or simply care about informed choice in pregnancy, we’d like to hear from you.
We think the guideline should be clearer about access to testing
The draft guideline does not say what healthcare professionals should do if a pregnant woman or person asks for a group B Strep test.
We believe that, after discussing the benefits and limitations of testing with their healthcare professional, pregnant women and people should be able to choose to have a group B Strep test if they wish.
This is about:
- Informed choice
- Personalised care
- Meaningful consent
- Fair access to information and testing
We are asking the RCOG to include this principle in its final guideline. We recognise that there are a range of views on group B Strep testing in pregnancy. However, we believe all pregnant women and people should have access to information and be able to discuss testing with their healthcare professional.
Why we’re calling for change
Today, access to group B Strep testing can depend on where you live, who provides your care, whether you know testing exists, or whether you are able to pay privately.
We don’t believe that’s fair.
No pregnant woman or person should miss out on information about group B Strep, or the opportunity to discuss testing, simply because they don’t know to ask or cannot afford to pay privately.
At the moment, those who know about group B Strep and can access private testing may have options that are not available to others. We believe access to information and discussions about testing should not depend on luck, confidence or ability to pay.
This consultation is not deciding whether all pregnant women should routinely be offered a group B Strep test by the NHS (this will be considered by the UK National Screening Committee over the coming year). However, there is an opportunity now to improve access to information and informed choice.
No pregnant woman or person should have to wait for wider policy changes before they can have a conversation about group B Strep testing and understand what options may be available to them.
That’s why we’re asking the RCOG to include clear guidance on what should happen when a pregnant woman or person requests a group B Strep test following an informed discussion with their healthcare professional.
We believe this would support informed choice, reduce inequalities in access to testing, and help ensure that conversations about group B Strep are based on good information rather than luck, confidence or ability to pay.
Share your views
While the questions below focus on areas of the draft guideline that GBSS believes are particularly important, we also welcome feedback on any other aspects of the guideline that you think should be strengthened, clarified or amended.
We will consider all feedback received when preparing our response to the RCOG consultation.
We’ll review all feedback received before the consultation closes and reflect the views of families and supporters in GBSS’s submission to the RCOG consultation, alongside our own response.
A note on the consultation
The RCOG consultation is mainly aimed at healthcare professionals and organisations. We have discussed this with the College and have been encouraged to gather feedback from patients, families and supporters to help inform our consultation response.
