My newborn was hours from death after developing common infection I’d never heard of
NEW mum Bethany Foss had never heard of group B Strep infection – until it was too late. It was only after her baby girl was born that the mum-of-three discovered the devastating impact it could have. Daisey-May Moore was born on October 30, 2018 – at 38 weeks, weighing 5lbs 6oz. Delighted at welcoming […]
NEW mum Bethany Foss had never heard of group B Strep infection – until it was too late.
It was only after her baby girl was born that the mum-of-three discovered the devastating impact it could have.
Daisey-May Moore was born on October 30, 2018 – at 38 weeks, weighing 5lbs 6oz.
Delighted at welcoming a daughter, Bethany said everything seemed fine, for the first few hours of Daisey-May’s life.
But, soon she started to notice her newborn making odd noises.
‘We were told to prepare for the worst’
“She seemed absolutely fine at first and was with me on the ward,” Bethany said.
“But after 24 hours I noticed that she was grunting when she breathed.”
After raising the alarm with medics, Daisey-May was examined.
Tests revealed she was battling group B Strep infection – and meningitis.
“I was told to prepare for the worst,” her mum recalled.
“It was the worst time of our lives.
“We were in total shock and disbelief as to how our baby could have been born so normal and perfect, then in the space of 24 hours be so near to death.”
Killer infection in newborns
Group B Strep is the most common cause of life-threatening infection in newborn babies, causing meningitis, pneumonia and sepsis.
The UK currently does not routinely test mums-to-be for group B Strep – instead using a risk-based prevention strategy.
But there is ongoing debate about whether or not every pregnant woman should be tested.
The bacteria that causes infection is present in around one in five women, but typically causes no harm to the mum-to-be.
The danger is when giving birth a mum can pass the deadly bacteria to her newborn, without knowing.
We were in total shock and disbelief as to how our baby could have been born so normal and perfect, then in the space of 24 hours be so near to death
Bethany Foss
In the vast majority of cases babies will be unaffected.
But one in 1,750 newborns will develop group B Strep infection.
Of those, 19 will die and the 14 survivors will be left with long-term disabilities.
Life-changing disabilities
Bethany, who is also mum to Noah, three, and Leo, two, said her daughter was kept on life-support for weeks while her tiny body battled the infection.
Describing it as a “miracle”, the mum-of-three said her daughter was finally allowed home, to the family home in Exeter, at three weeks old.
“Every day felt like a miracle and eventually they stabilised Daisey-May, enough to take her off her ventilator and to everyone’s amazement she started breathing,” Bethany said.
But, Daisey-May has been left with severe brain damage, MRI scans have revealed.
“We don’t know yet how she will be affected in the future and what she will and won’t be able to do,” her mum added.
“She also has epilepsy and is on three different medications to control her seizures.”
She is now being cared for by her parents, with the help of specialist carers.
‘We’d never heard of it… until it was too late’
Mum Bethany said she is speaking out about the family’s ordeal to help raise awareness.
“We’d not heard about group B Strep until Daisey-May’s birth, despite her being our third child,” she said.
“I was never offered information or a test for group B Strep when I was pregnant, whereas this would have been done automatically in most other developed countries.
“The whole experience has been highly traumatic.
“Nobody should have to have discussions about their new baby’s life when the infection they are suffering from could so easily have been prevented.”
New trial into preventable bug
If all pregnant women were tested for the bacteria that causes the killer infection, those at risk can be treated.
It involves giving women who test positive IV antibiotics during labour – which in turn passes the medication on to their imminent arrivals.
Doing so reduces the risk of a newborn falling ill by a staggering 90 per cent, the Group B Strep Support charity estimates.
The charity is backing a new landmark trial that aims to look at the effectiveness of testing all pregnant women for group B Strep.
It will look at two different tests – a lab-based test at 35 to 37 weeks of pregnancy, compared with a “bedside test” as a woman goes into labour.
The research is being led by Dr Kate Walker, clinical assistant professor of obstetrics and Prof Jane Daniels, at the University of Nottingham – and is also backed by the National Childbirth Trust (NCT).
Dr Walker said: “At the moment, we’re in a situation where we’re missing lots of babies whose mums don’t have risk factors but do carry the bacteria and giving antibiotics to women who don’t carry the bacteria.”
Her colleague Prof Daniels added: “We want to answer the question for the NHS – should you test pregnant women for group B Strep or not, and if you’re going to test, is it better to do a culture test at 35 to 37 weeks pregnancy or a bedside test?
“Hopefully the trial will answer these questions.
“We believe that, if testing is proved effective, this would mean that the right women get the right antibiotics.”
Current guidelines ‘don’t work’
The charity, Group B Strep Support, has been campaigning for better prevention in the UK for more than 20 years.
Chief executive, Jane Plumb, said the current guidelines are not working.
“The number of babies suffering group B Strep infections has risen not fallen despite the introduction of the risk-based prevention strategy in 2003.
“After routine testing was offered in the US, the rate dropped by 80 per cent and their rate of early onset GBS infections – in the first six days of life – is now less than half that of the UK.
MORE ON PREGNANCY
“If the rate was reduced in the UK in the same way, we could prevent group B Strep infections in approximately 350 babies every year, saving 15 babies’ lives and protecting another 15 from life-changing disability.”
The new trial, funded by the National Institute for Health Research, will take place at 80 hospitals across England, Wales and Scotland.
Health minister, Nicola Blackwood, said: “We want the NHS to be the safest place in the world to have a baby and we will halve the number of stillbirths and neonatal deaths over the next five years through the Long Term Plan.
“I am delighted the NIHR is funding this large-scale clinical trial to allow us to better understand how we can prevent the leading cause of serious infection in newborn babies.”
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