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 mother is found to be s GBS carrier.
The interview was shown on the lunchtime, early evening and late news. The evening edition was in more detail and also had an excellent interview with Jane,the CEO of Group B Strep Support. Although we were slightly disappointed that the piece did not not concentrate of the leaflet as much as we wanted and in our view went off topic slightly, discussing screening and the stance of Public Health England it did mean that GBS was the first item on the local news and the hits on the GBS Support website rose significantly.
A good day and a brilliant experience with Theo undoubtedly stealing the show in the park but a quick lesson that the media will drive the agenda. The disappointment being that the report did not refer to the £35,000 that needs to be raised by GBS Support to provide a leaflet to each of the 750,000 women expected to be pregnant during 2018 in the UK.
Finally, the article did show a picture of Mia and that was the first time we have allowed her to be seen in public. That was a huge decision, especially for Amanda and undoubtedly shows her commitment to the campaign.
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 mother is found to be s GBS carrier.
The interview was shown on the lunchtime, early evening and late news. The evening edition was in more detail and also had an excellent interview with Jane,the CEO of Group B Strep Support. Although we were slightly disappointed that the piece did not not concentrate of the leaflet as much as we wanted and in our view went off topic slightly, discussing screening and the stance of Public Health England it did mean that GBS was the first item on the local news and the hits on the GBS Support website rose significantly.
A good day and a brilliant experience with Theo undoubtedly stealing the show in the park but a quick lesson that the media will drive the agenda. The disappointment being that the report did not refer to the £35,000 that needs to be raised by GBS Support to provide a leaflet to each of the 750,000 women expected to be pregnant during 2018 in the UK.
Finally, the article did show a picture of Mia and that was the first time we have allowed her to be seen in public. That was a huge decision, especially for Amanda and undoubtedly shows her commitment to the campaign.
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