Ruby’s mum Leah writes,
“With Ruby being my long-awaited rainbow baby I was always going to be a panicky first-time mum, but I truly believe my instincts that day saved her life, or at least saved her from having long-term side effects of group B Strep infection.
At 17 weeks Ruby was rushed into hospital with a high temperature and a very fast heart rate.
Taken to hospital via ambulance I didn’t realise quite how serious things were until I overheard a doctor mentioning a chaperone and the resuscitation bag. Ruby was getting worse by the minute.
Once on the Children’s Assessment Unit, Ruby was taken from me straight away to have a lumbar puncture. I was told not to go in with her as it didn’t need to be traumatic for us both. I could hear her screams down the corridor. I’ll never know if they were actually her screams or were just in my head. When she came back to me, we just sobbed together.
The next day we were informed Ruby had contracted late-onset GBS infection, which had spread to her blood causing sepsis.
Those next few days in hospital were awful. Being in the middle of a pandemic, her dad wasn’t allowed to be with me. I was just so helpless and there was nothing I could do to help little Ruby.
We are so lucky that after 14 days-worth of antibiotics, Ruby made a full recovery, and has no long-term effects. She is now seven months old and reaching her milestones.
I truly believe more needs to be done in pregnancy to raise awareness for the symptoms of group B Strep infection.
Ruby’s case was very rare. She contracted late-onset GBS, rather than it being contracted at birth. I’m still unsure if it was me that passed it on to her.”
