Mothers Day 2016 - A step in the right direction

Sunday was the third Mother’s Day since Mia passed away – previously Amanda didn’t even want to celebrate it which I always viewed as her right even though I knew her sons and daughter would still want to celebrate it with her.

This year was a bit different, mainly because of the safe arrival of Theo – Amanda had a lovely day, lots of presents from her children and we had Sunday Lunch at the local pub followed by a couple of drinks with a couple of friends and their children.

Hopefully Mother’s Day from this point onwards will be something that Amanda views as worthwhile celebrating. I will always make sure that Amanda receives something from Mia on Mothering Sunday if I didn't we would view it as the horrid Group B Strep infection winning our battle.

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Bereavement Leave

Bereavement Leave A recent social media discussion has got me thinking about the difficulty in returning to work following the loss of your child. For some it be can an unbearable experience that literally pushes many over the edge. I was one of the lucky ones, I for many years have enjoyed an excellent working relationship with both my bosses and my direct reports in the same employment. Bereavement leave, especially time taken for the death of your child is, I guess, not something that enters your mindset through everyday life. That said, it never entered my head that within reason, I would not get given whatever fully-paid time I required to ensure that I was in the best possible place before contemplating returning to work. Some people and way more than I realised until participating in that recent twitter discussion do not have the luxury of understanding bosses and colleagues that I had when I returned to work 2 and half weeks later fo...

BBC Look East - Patient information leaflets

A few weeks ago I sent an email to our contacts at the local newspapers about the new patient information leaflets and the work done by GBS Support and Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. We asked for an article highlighting that by fully implementing the agreed recommendations, the rate of avoidable Group B Strep infections to newborns in the UK would fall. The article was published in mid January and following a good response prompted us to release the first few pages of "Mia's Story". I then received a phone call from BBC Look East about their intention to run a headline story about the leaflet, Group B Strep and Mia - we agreed to do the interview and was scheduled for Monday 29th January. We did our best to keep the leaflet as the main topic within the interview and that it is our belief that the biggest problem at the moment is that to-be parents just don't know about the dangers of the infection and how easy it is to be prepared if the moth...

MP Sharon Hodgson - My stillborn baby did 'not exist'

Last week, in the House of Commons, MP Sharon Hodgson broke down as she revealed her agony of being told her stillborn daughter, Lucy, who was born 20 years ago at 23 weeks + 5 days did not ‘officially exist’. That is because under UK law, parents are not given a birth or death certificate if the child is not born alive before 24 weeks’ gestation. Although the passing of her daughter was not as far as I’m aware related to a Group B Strep infection, listening to her plea hit home with us and got us thinking about what she is asking for. Her little girls heart had beat through most of her labour and she held her babies motionless body in her arms in hospital. It surely cannot be questioned that indelible memory is fact that her daughter indeed existed . MP Sharon Hodgson, 02/02/18 Our daughter, Mia was born alive at 25+5 weeks (2 weeks older than Lucy) and lived for 22 minutes, therefore she ticked all the boxes to be classed as having ‘offici...

Mia's Legacy - The Brightest Star

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