MPs from England and Northern Ireland are calling on the Government to make sensitive testing for group B Streptococcus (GBS) available to all pregnant women on the NHS
As many as three out of 10 pregnant women may carry the GBS bacterium. Most are unaware of this fact, yet it is the most common cause of life-threatening infection in new-born babies in the UK, affecting 700 babies each year. GBS infection presents as meningitis, septicaemia and pneumonia. Every year it kills 75 babies and leaves 40 with serious long-term medical problems.
Giving antibiotics during labour to women whose babies are most at risk usually prevents GBS infection in the baby. Group B Strep Support says that if expectant mothers were routinely tested for GBS, doctors could prevent over 80% of these infections. A sensitive test to detect GBS colonisation is not widely available on the NHS. It is available privately and costs around £32. Most mums-to-be aren’t offered a test for GBS at all. If they are, the one widely used by the NHS gives a false negative result to around 50% of carriers. According to recent medical research, testing all pregnant women for GBS using the sensitive test, plus treating those found to be at higher risk, would not only save lives but would save the Government £37 million a year.
Dr Chris Steele, resident GP on ITV’s This Morning and Patron of Group B Strep Support says:
"I have met families affected by GBS and heard their harrowing stories. I find it incredible that in this day and age an infection that is almost entirely preventable is still killing babies in the UK. I’d like to see every pregnant woman in the UK offered a reliable test for GBS on the NHS – until then, raising awareness is the key to saving babies’ lives."
In March 1996, Jane and Robert Plumb’s second son, Theo, was born prematurely. He died of a group B Strep (GBS) infection just 17 hours later. Like most people, Jane had never heard of GBS. Despite desperate attempts to find out more she realised there was very little information available. So, she decided to do something about it. Within six months of Theo’s death, Jane and Robert set up the charity Group B Strep Support to provide information about and prevent GBS infections in babies, and to offer support to families affected by GBS. The charity has achieved significant progress in changing the way GBS is handled in hospitals in the UK, and in raising awareness of the issue at Government level.
Jane said: “It’s disgraceful that the NHS is using a test which is so unreliable. Offering accurate testing to all pregnant women on the NHS would enable mothers to protect their babies from this deadly infection. In many countries, Canada, France, Australia and the USA to name but a few, testing for GBS is a routine part of antenatal care – it’s high time the British Government caught up. This tragic death toll of tiny lives can and must be brought to an end.”
Midwife Dawn Holwell had an apparently healthy baby boy, Alexander, in 1994. Six hours later he collapsed, and after just 17 hours of life he died in Dawn’s arms, overwhelmed by GBS infection. Dawn and her husband, David, a GP, knew very little about GBS at the time – as did most people. A year later, as part of her job, Dawn was asked to visit Jane Plumb, who had just lost her baby to GBS. Both women were determined to find out more about the infection that had taken their babies’ lives. Dawn and David have been involved in the charity Group B Strep Support from the start, and have both served as Executive Committee members. The couple have since had three healthy boys, eleven-year-old Louis, Bertie, 5, and Henry, 2.
Dawn said: “As a midwife I always tell pregnant women about GBS. Thanks to Group B Strep Support far more people have heard of GBS now, and it’s more acceptable for midwives and doctors to talk to their patients about it – in the past, I was told I’d scare pregnant women if I told them about GBS. I’d like to see a national screening programme introduced so that every mother-to-be is offered sensitive testing for GBS on the NHS. Carriers can then make an informed choice whether or not to have antibiotics during labour. If women don’t know about GBS, they can’t have that choice.”
January 2008
For more information about group B Strep, please contact Group B Strep Support on 01444 416176
Or visit..... www.gbss.org.uk
To read more about GBS, take a look at......
Killer Infection Confusion
Pregnancy and Group B Strep |
Families Struggle to Pay Nursery Fees
