Theo’s life. Theo’s legacy. 30 years on.

This week marks 30 years since Theo was born and since he died from group B Strep. This is why Group B Strep Support exists.

By Jane Plumb, Chief Executive and Co-Founder, Group B Strep Support (GBSS).

Theo was born on 19 March 1996.

He died the next day, 20 March 1996, at just 17½ hours old, from group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection.

Before Theo was born, we had never heard of group B Strep.

The day everything changed

Tuesday, 19 March 1996, began like any other day.

I was 25 weeks and 4 days pregnant, at home with my three year old, Oliver. By late afternoon, something didn’t feel right. There was no drama, no obvious emergency – just a growing sense that something was wrong.

By early evening, I was in labour.

Theo arrived very quickly. He was tiny and fragile, and it was immediately clear that he was seriously poorly.

The doctors took him to the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) while I was treated for complications following the birth.

When I was finally taken to see him, I was in a wheelchair that was too wide to fit into the SCBU.

I couldn’t go in.

I had to look at my son through the glass.

He was critically ill.

Theo died before we had any understanding of quite what had happened, or why.

Only as we were leaving the hospital did a doctor suggest that group B Strep might have been the cause.

Later tests confirmed that it was.

From loss to action

In the days and weeks after Theo’s death, my husband Robert and I searched for answers.

What we discovered was devastating.

While Theo’s infection was unlikely to have been preventable, many group B Strep infections in newborn babies are.

We learned that the risk was known but not acted upon consistently.

At the time, awareness was low, information on GBS for parents was almost non-existent, and families affected by GBS were often left to cope alone with their grief and confusion.

There was no clear, trusted place to turn.

No consistent information.

No coordinated effort to prevent future harm.

Six months after Theo died, we founded Group B Strep Support (GBSS).

It was not founded out of ambition, strategy or long-term planning.

It was founded because our baby had died – and we knew others did not have to.

What one short life has changed

Over the past 30 years, Group B Strep Support has grown into a trusted source of information, support and advocacy.

Over almost three decades, GBSS has worked constructively with clinicians, researchers and policymakers – always focused on preventing avoidable harm.

The charity has:

• • supported families whose babies have died or been harmed by group B Strep
• • ensured expectant and new parents can access clear, evidence-based information
• • worked with health professionals to improve understanding and care
• • supported medical research to answer long-standing questions about GBS
• • kept lived experience at the centre of conversations about prevention, identification and treatment

Every part of this work traces back to Theo.

Theo was born 30 years ago.

He lived for just over 17 hours.

But his impact has been immense.

The personal journey behind the charity

Leading Group B Strep Support has never been completely separate from Theo.

It has meant carrying him into rooms where decisions are made.

It has meant returning, again and again, to the most painful moments of my life so that other families might be spared them.

It has never been about moving on.

It is about turning love and loss into purpose and insisting that lessons are learned.

Thirty years on – and looking forward

In March 2026, it will be 30 years since Theo was born and died.

Thirty years of supporting families.

Thirty years of raising awareness.

Thirty years of pushing for change.

And still, babies continue to be affected by group B Strep.

I’m not sharing Theo’s story just to remember him (though I do, every day), but to explain why Group B Strep Support exists and why prevention, information and listening to families are essential.

Theo’s life was heartbreakingly short.

His legacy is not.

And, after 30 years, it’s time to finish what he started.

We do not want to be telling this story for another 30 years.