Strep B the silent killer that too many of us have never heard of

Granny Jackie demands screening for all babies and mums-to-be.

In just a few weeks’ time she’s set to become a gran again. It should be one of the happiest times in Jackie Watt’s life. But instead, the milestone occasion is overshadowed by anxiety and fear.

That’s because the new bundle of joy is set to arrive just as Jackie prepares to mark the two-year anniversary of the death of her first granddaughter.

Little Lola was just 20 days old when she passed away after contracting Strep B. The bacterial infection kills 75 babies in the UK every year and the virus is carried by one in five pregnant women.

The infection rate among newborn babies is higher in Scotland than across the UK as a whole. However, in this country women aren’t routinely tested for it and it’s not well documented in maternity literature. In fact, it’s a silent killer that most mums-to-be haven’t even heard of.

Jackie, 49, from Kilwinning, Ayrshire, is calling on the Scottish Government to introduce a screening programme for all expectant mums and raise awareness of the condition in pre-natal guides.

“None of us knew what Strep B was,” she said. “The fact is some babies get it and some don’t. It’s just your luck. But it can be fatal. What’s most frustrating is that taking some simple steps can prevent it, but at the moment this is just not being done.”

Lola, Jackie’s first grandchild and first baby to daughter Nicole, arrived on February 24, 2013, after a healthy pregnancy and a straightforward labour. But two weeks later, when she woke up from a nap, Nicole, 25, noticed something wasn’t right.

“She phoned me and said Lola’s facial features were distorted,” Jackie recalled. “As she was a new mum, I thought she might be worrying over nothing but suggested if she was really worried, to take Lola to the doctors and have her checked out.”

The GP’s diagnosis was a virus, but Nicole acted on instinct and took her baby straight to A&E.

“By the time I arrived, Lola was surrounded by about 20 doctors and nurses,” Jackie said. “They suspected an infection and said she’d need to be transferred to specialists at Yorkhill, but they didn’t tell us much more than that.”

A few days later, it was confirmed Lola had contracted Strep B. Group Strep B is a healthy bacteria carried in the digestive system of adults and the vagina of women. It doesn’t cause any harm.

But it can be passed to babies during childbirth or through close contact after they are born. And in these cases, could result in death or life-threatening illness.

“The doctors told us she was brain-dead and Nicole and her partner Chris should consider switching off her life-support machine,” Jackie remembered. “It was horrendous. They didn’t want to do it, but they had very little choice. What quality of life would she have had?”

“It was heartbreaking,” Jackie said. “Nicole and Chris were devastated and just couldn’t stay to watch her pass away. So I sat with Lola for the next six hours until she died. It was the most harrowing time of my life, but when you’re a parent and your child is finding it difficult, sometimes you need to be the strong one.”

Nicole later learned she’d been carrying Strep B whilst pregnant, but Lola didn’t contract it during birth. She suffered late onset of the virus, perhaps from a kiss or cuddle from someone who was a carrier in the weeks after birth.

Desperate to know more about the condition which claimed the life of her granddaughter, Jackie started to research Strep B. The former care worker learned it could be detected in expectant mums by doing a simple swab test and carriers could be given antibiotics during labour which dramatically reduce the chances of the baby contracting Strep B. At the moment, the only option for Scottish mums-to-be is to order a private test which they can carry out at home, costing £35. It’s the same across the rest of the UK. And the only reference to the condition in parenthood literature currently issued by the Government is a short paragraph.

In February last year, Jackie launched a petition calling on the Scottish Government to introduce new guidelines advising that all expectant mothers are screened for Strep B and given information about the infection as part of their ante-natal care. Since then, she’s appeared before Holyrood’s petitions committee to give evidence and campaigned along with Group B Strep Support Scotland’s only Strep B charity.

To date, the petition has collected almost 2000 signatures.

“This test doesn’t cost much and could save a baby’s life. You can’t put a price on that,” Jackie said. “I find it bizarre that something so common isn’t tested for as standard. My neighbour’s grandson had Strep B, the woman down the street’s baby too…thankfully in those cases it was picked up, they were given a simple course of antibiotics and the children were saved. Even some midwives have admitted to me that they aren’t aware of late onset Strep B.”

The pain of losing Lola came flooding back last year when Nicole announced she was pregnant again.

“We should have been so happy, but instead it was nerve-wracking,” Jackie said. “Nicole didn’t tell anyone about the pregnancy until she was six months on.”

Brooke was initially due in mid-March, almost a year to the day her sister died.

“People said it was a blessing, like Lola was sending something back,” Jackie said. “But it was hard to concentrate on the positive until she was here safely.”

Brooke arrived six weeks early after Nicole’s placenta ruptured.

“It was quite a scary time,” Jackie revealed. “Poor Nicole hasn’t had an easy time of it with her pregnancies.

“After Brooke was born, we kept visitors to a minimum and didn’t let anyone into the house or touch her without washing their hands or taking their shoes off.

“We became obsessed with the fact that she could suffer the same fate as Lola and with keeping her infection-free.”

Thankfully Brooke is a healthy baby. She celebrates her first birthday in a few weeks’ time. But with the imminent arrival of Nicole’s third baby, the family are worried once again. The new baby is due to be delivered by planned C-section on February 18.

“Of course, we’re excited but there will always be that fear that things could go wrong after the past two experiences,” Jackie said. “Those will be with us forever, especially losing Lola.

“People often say I’m so strong to fight the case, but I’m really doing nothing more than being a mother and a grandmother. And trying to extend that to help others where I can.”

Jackie’s petition has closed and she is now supporting the UK version which can be signed at epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/60515. For more information about Strep B, visit gbss.org.uk.