Laken’s mum Jessica writes,
“I tested positive for group B Strep at 36 weeks pregnant. My son was born 16th March 2021. I was 38 weeks and 4 days pregnant. I had my full course of antibiotics during labour (at least 2 doses)! Everything was great until April 27th. Laken refused to eat! He kept his arms crossed over his chest at all times and had a constant moan with every breath along with a slight fever! Took him to his paediatrician. They didn’t find anything wrong, just told me things to look out for to take him to the emergency room.
He got better for 24 hours. Was eating again, no fever. Then again, on April 28, the moaning, not eating and even higher fever came back! We rushed him to the best paediatric emergency room in our area and they did a lumbar puncture along with a viral swab! He had 2 viruses along with group B Strep meningitis. He spent 6 days in the hospital, 3 of those days being in the Postnatal Intensive Care Unit. He responded very very well to the antibiotics. His inflammatory levels continued to drop the way the infectious disease doctor wanted! They placed a PICC line in his head and we were able to take him home and administer the remainder of his antibiotics from the comfort of our home.
I was so terrified. Not knowing what to expect, because I wasn’t informed of the risks it had on a baby. I was living off of Google trying to get advice and know what to expect. Laken made a full recovery after the 14 days of antibiotics and is thriving at 7 months old now! Had we not taken him to the hospital when we did it would have been VERY bad! Always trust your instinct and make yourself aware of GBS and its effects on your baby if it was to be transferred. I received my full course of antibiotics during labour and it still transferred.
