“Elliott was born via a straightforward Caesarean. Eight weeks after his birth, he became very sleepy during the day, but by the night, he was refusing to feed and was crying inconsolably for hours. We tried everything to soothe him, but nothing worked. I called the hospital maternity ward and explained that he was crying, which was very out of character for him, but they dismissed it, saying that babies go through stages of crying.
I thought about taking him to the hospital but was worried I was overreacting. We finally took him in four hours later, and he was admitted straight away. They started antibiotics, and the tests confirmed he had late-onset group B Strep sepsis and meningitis.
He spent a week in hospital and luckily has made a full recovery and isn’t showing any lasting side effects.
I am so grateful to the NHS, but I live with the guilt that I could have acted sooner if I had known the symptoms. I think group B Strep should be on the syllabus of NCT classes for awareness, as literally minutes count to save lives. The doctors told us Elliott would have likely died that night if we hadn’t taken him to hospital when we did.
I have since found all the GBSS resources and shared stories, which have been so helpful in understanding that we are not alone in our experience. My message to other parents would be to trust your instincts and get medical help if you feel something is not right.”
