Nicole, mum to Zach, says,
“I had a bleed at 16 weeks pregnant. I wasn’t aware that I was routinely tested for GBS at the time. I planned to test at 38 weeks as my sister’s friend’s baby, unfortunately, died from this.
When my waters broke at just over 37 weeks, I didn’t feel the need for them to be checked, given it was my second baby and I’d be sent home. I therefore stayed at home for six hours before going in for the check.
In triage, I was about to leave when the nurse did one more scroll, and then she saw on my notes “GBS positive” – it was the first time I’d been told I was a carrier. Had I known, I’d have been in hospital as soon as my waters broke.
Unfortunately, the infection passed to my baby during labour (I’d been given antibiotics, but they were so slow about it. It was all too long).
At birth, the midwife wasn’t happy with Zach’s snuffling noises, so she requested a doctor/ consultant come and review him and, with that, he was taken to ICU. I will never know whether they were looking for signs as they knew I had the infection or whether they would have picked up on it anyway… to myself, my husband and mum, he sounded totally normal.
Unfortunately, I had a bad reaction to the epidural (spinal tap), so I was pretty out of it for three days, and with Zach in ICU, I only had visits here and there with him. I felt like I massively missed out on those precious moments with him.
He is a lucky one, and all is well with him now. He went on a two-week course of antibiotics, and we both stayed in hospital for two weeks. It was very hard for us as I had a two-year-old at home, which isn’t how I saw the first two weeks going!
I honestly consider us to be extremely lucky in these circumstances, and I shout loudly about GBS to all my friends, family and anyone I know who is pregnant. It’s easily treated, it’s easily avoided, and we must raise as much awareness as possible.
I felt extremely let down that no one had thought to inform me that I was a carrier. It was so hard to get the antibiotics into me once I was admitted. It took a changeover in midwives to realise the severity and urgency of the situation, and she literally whisked me away to the labour ward from the labour day unit.
I found the GBSS social media pages very helpful following our situation, as it allowed me to share facts and figures with friends and family so they understood the seriousness of the situation. Thank you for all you do. I will, of course continue to shout loud about it.”
