My daughter was born with group b strep!

[3102012]

My daughter Olivia was born on the 3/10/2012 and was born with group b strep, 5 weeks before i went into labor i was convinced my waters had gone as i had a sudden gush of water i rushed up to the hospital where they sent me home and told me everything was fine, although i have now found out that they should have swabbed me at that point before sending me home which they did not and if they had they would have found the group b strep and then i would have been treated during my labor and my daughter wouldn't have contracted the infection, but i went into labor 4 days after my due date, my labor was quite quick 8 hrs long and when she was born she had her cord wrapped tightly round her neck so she was very floppy when she was born which was concerning the midwives and not only that but she aspirated meconium so she was being given oxygen for that too she wasn't improving so they made the decision to take her round to special care, when they cleared her lungs from the meconium she still wasn't improving and could not breath on her own, that's when the consultant decided to test her for group b strep he told me the medical term for this infection and just said he was going to test her for it as she remained very pale and blue and wasn't improving, he didn't actually explain to me what this infection was or how she may have got it, we was left very confused and didn't know what was going on all we knew was that our baby girl was very ill, he came back and said she had tested positive for it and would need a course of antibiotics and to be monitored until she can breath on her own, me and my partner were broken hearted and extreamly worried, we still didn't know what this meant for Olivia so we decided to look it up on Google and found out about it that way, it makes me feel sick that babies have to endure this infection rather then the NHS not allowing the swabs to be done! reading all the stories on here i realise just how lucky i am to have a now healthy 3 week old baby who is home and doing well and the fact that she aspirated meconium is the only reason we actually found out she had this as soon as we did, otherwise we may be in a veryyy horrific and dreadful place right now! i thank god everyday for my baby girl and that she survived this awful infection! its such a shame that the NHS cant see that something so simple can stop the heartache and loss for so many! Rest in Peace all those beautiful babies who have lost their lives to group b strep and god bless to all those families like us dealing with the stress, worries, concerns, heartache and more that group b strep causes!

[JaneEliz Group B Strep Support Volunteer]

Thank you for sharing this and what a horrible start to little Olivia's life. I'm so pleased she's now home and doing well - how wonderful

[llawrence]

Thank you so much for your lovely kind words. We lost our Son Jack at 23 weeks, he was stillborn due to Strep B we are finding it hard to deal with as this is our first baby, but speaking to people on this website really helps. I just hope that the medical profession start taking this situation seriously, how lives have to be lost before it is made a medical necessity to check pregnant women through their pregnancies!!!!!!