Parents who have a child that developed group B strep infection are sharing their experiences to raise awareness and encourage other families to get informed about GBS. During #GBSAM please watch, read and share these across your social media channels to help us spread the word.
Thank you to everyone who has bravely shared their stories.
Olly
First-time mum Anna couldn’t shake the feeling something wasn’t right with her newborn son Olly after he began scrunching up his face shortly after birth. Anna’s fears proved correct as he had developed group B Strep sepsis. Olly spent a week in NICU while Anna and her husband Romek faced the possibility he may not be coming home.
Watch Anna sharing the full story below:
Raising Awareness and Options for Testing
If Anna and husband Romek were provided with the facts about GBS during her pregnancy, they would have had the opportunity to make informed choices about testing and treatment.
Watch video
Olly
First-time mum Anna couldn’t shake the feeling something wasn’t right with her newborn son Olly after he began scrunching up his face shortly after birth. Anna’s fears proved correct as he had developed group B Strep sepsis.
Watch video
Rhodi
Baby Rhodi died at 10 days old of sepsis caused by late-onset group B Strep infection. Mum Jasmine became concerned after he was not feeding well and rushed him to hospital.
Rhodi developed brain damage and his parents made the difficult decision to switch off his life support.
Zachary
Zachary Taylor-Smith lived for just 14 hours after developing a group B Strep infection. Parents Hannah and Tim had never heard of GBS before and Hannah was not tested during her pregnancy.
Willow
Mum Rachel tested positive for GBS in a urine sample at 36 weeks and was given antibiotics but not re-tested to see if it had cleared.
Willow was born via emergency c-section after Mum and baby were diagnosed with sepsis. They were treated in hospital for 10 days and made a full recovery.
