On average, one newborn baby a day in the UK develops group B Strep infection. One baby a week dies from group B Strep infection; and one baby a fortnight who survives the infection suffers long-term mental or physical disabilities. Yet most of these infections in newborn babies are preventable.
Group B Strep is the UK’s most common cause of life-threatening infection in newborn babies – causing septicaemia, pneumonia and meningitis. Carried naturally by 2-3 pregnant women in every 10, group B Strep is rarely dangerous to the Mum but, if passed onto a baby around birth, can have potentially devastating consequences for the baby.
Lindfield Mum Jane Plumb founded charity Group B Strep Support in 1996 following the death of her middle child, Theo, from group B Strep infection.
Sir Nicholas says, “I am honoured to become a Patron for Group B Strep Support. Based in Haywards Heath, the charity offers information all over the UK to pregnant women, new parents and their health professionals. I join them in calling for every pregnant woman to be informed about group B Strep and offered the GBS-specific ECM test on the NHS as a routine part of antenatal care.”
“We have been pushing for change for too long - I am keen to make things happen and will be putting pressure on the Government and key decision makers to recognise that the current prevention strategy is not working. It is time for change."
Finding out whether a Mum is carrying group B Strep late in pregnancy is safe and easy. Antibiotics (usually narrow-spectrum penicillin) given in labour to women carrying group B Strep reduces the baby’s risk of infection by over 80%.
Many developed countries already offer pregnant women routine testing for group B Strep carriage and have seen their incidence of these infections in newborn babies dramatically fall - in Spain by 86%, the USA by over 80% and France by 71%. By contrast, UK, the number has risen by 21% since national ‘risk-based’ guidelines were introduced in 2003