Alexander, father of Lexi, says:
“Lexi died in utero of Strep B pneumonia. She died a few hours before she was delivered. Her death has prompted changes at the hospital regarding their screening policies.
It has been a very difficult eight months since her death, which has affected all of us, from grandparents to brothers and sisters. We have been really well supported by the local community, which has helped, but the loss has been devastating.
We are running the Royal Parks half marathon the week before our wedding in her memory for the charity and are hoping to raise more than £2,000. We are currently sitting at over £1,800.
Lexi died after Kath’s waters broke when visiting her parents. The hospital we initially went to did not screen for group B Strep. When we went to our home hospital to get the suture removed to allow birth, they did not reswab Kath. Kath had the suture removed and was kept in hospital for two days. Lexi was alive during this time.
We went home for two hours, and then contractions started. We came back in, and Lexi had died. Kath had to deliver Lexi, knowing this.
Strep B is the master of disguise as Kath had a normal C-reactive protein test, a slightly raised white blood cell count and appeared well. There was no suggestion of Strep B until the pathology results came back.
Kath was not started on penicillin, and there was no routine swabbing for Strep B at the time. Policies have been changed as a result of Lexi’s death. Both Kath and I are medical, and, despite this, neither of us was aware of Strep B in this context.
There is a real requirement to highlight this preventable cause of death in children.”
Notes:
C-reactive protein (CRP) is created when there’s inflammation, like from an infection or injury, so checking levels is a way to gauge how much inflammation is happening inside your body.
White blood cell count (WBC) measures the number of white cells in your blood. When you get sick, your body makes more white blood cells to fight the germs causing your illness. So, a high WBC means it’s highly likely the body is fighting an infection.
