Kathryn, mum to Joshua, says:
“On 12 April our beautiful Joshua was born. Little did we know we weren’t taking him home that day. Within two hours of being born, he wouldn’t open his eyes, his temperature dropped, he started to grunt, refused to feed and was breathing very fast.
The nurses took him straight to the neonatal unit, where he was placed in an incubator. They began to connect wires and start a drip as his sugars were low, and they started antibiotics. I tried to keep a brave face until I got back to the ward, where I broke down crying as I’d left my baby, and he didn’t return to the ward with me.
A consultant stated that it’s common for babies to get infections. They said it could possibly be group B Strep. At that point, I had never heard of it. Going back to my ward, I Googled what it was. At that point, I started to become upset and concerned. Later, a midwife stated that they had to help him to breathe as he couldn’t do it by himself.
During the day, his infection levels came back, and they were rising. All I kept thinking was that I wanted my mum. I was scared, and terrified, and kept wondering if he was going to make it and how I would cope if he didn’t.
Saturday, they came to a decision that, as they didn’t have the equipment to help him improve, Joshua had to be transferred to Oldham Hospital, a level three hospital. We, as parents, panicked even more as he wasn’t getting any better. We had to get someone to care for our 5-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter at home.
When he arrived at Oldham Hospital, it was confirmed he had group B Strep sepsis and later that night, his infection levels went to 179 and carried on rising. During the next couple of days, he had a lumbar puncture, brain scans and regular checks. Joshua had to be treated for jaundice. Joshua’s infection levels gradually started going down and his lumbar puncture came back clear, as did his brain scan.
A few days later, he came off his oxygen tube, and I finally was able to give him a cuddle. He also began to have some milk through a tube. By Wednesday, he returned to Wigan as he was getting better. He was able to go in his cot and be dressed. By Easter Sunday we were told his infection levels were under four and he was able to come home. He finally started to drink out of a bottle.
He spent 11 days in the neonatal unit, and we are so proud of how strong he was in fighting the infection, as the outcome could have been worse.
When he was 15 weeks old, Joshua was again taken to hospital with a temperature, and he was irritable. They treated him in the same way they did his previous group B Strep sepsis, before the results came back confirming diagnosis. He also had another lumbar puncture, which came back clear, and he had IV antibiotics.
Joshua is now four and has just started reception but as his mum, I can’t help but think if anything will come to light in future that group B Strep sepsis has caused. I can’t come to terms with the fact that he has come away from the infection with nothing, I still worry all the time.
Finding Group B Strep Support has been a great help to our family. They have been there every step of the way, supporting me and giving me the support that I needed. It is still devastating that all hospitals are not discussing this with pregnant women or raising awareness of this infection on what can be treated with antibiotics. Even if it is not free, at least discuss that you can pay privately for it and what week of pregnancy to test for.”
