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Our Mission


When Mia first passed away we wanted to change the world… we simply couldn’t believe that there was this infection ‘Group B Something’ (was there an A’ Strep? a C’ Strep? ‘What else was in this Group?’…. that was hardly ever tested for and despite being on the face of it so common and potentially so dangerous.  Like most that hear about Group B Strep it first seemed that it was all down to cost and government budgets and it all seemed so unbelievably complicated.

As time moved on it became obvious that despite the huge efforts of many we are someway off from routine testing using the more accurate method, the Enriched Culture Method (ECM) as being standard in the UK and it has become of paramount importance to raise awareness of the infection and allow pregnant couples the choice of paying privately for the test.

We realised that awareness and prevention strategies was for now the only realistic approach with the aim to ensure that as many pregnant couples are made aware of the dangers of Group B Strep and what can be done to counteract a positive test result.


Therefore our goals through this blog are as follows:

  1. To campaign for a consistent approach to the antenatal education policy for GBS carriage throughout the UK
  2. To put the decision to test for Group B Strep carriage in the hands of the pregnant couple
  3. To keep the topic of Group B Strep in the local media
  4. To provide opportunities to raise money for Group B Strep Support
  5. To tell 'Mia's Story'

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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...

4 Years tomorrow….

4 Years tomorrow…. It seems inconceivable that it’s four years tomorrow that Mia was born.   It goes without saying that both her mum and I are different people, changed beyond recognition.   Sometimes it feels like we are going nowhere, the world is not listening and then out of the blue something happens like a media interview request that happened earlier this week on how things had changed over the 4 years and in light of the new leaflet now being given out to pregnant families detailing the existence and effect of Group B Strep. Tomorrow will be quiet, just myself, Amanda and Theo – I’m hoping we will see the other children too at some point in the day, because for tomorrow nothing else matters X

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...