If you are a resident of Northern Ireland, please support us by following the link below to sign the petition.

Northern Ireland GBS online petition

Northern Ireland has the highest rate of group B Strep (GBS) infection in newborn babies out of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Yet this deadly infection can usually be prevented. Medical charity Group B Strep Support is calling on politicians in Northern Ireland to take action and save lives by offering screening for GBS to pregnant women on the NHS.

Yesterday, the Rt Hon Jeffrey Donaldson MP MLA and Dr Alasdair McDonnell MP MLA jointly hosted an information event to raise awareness of a campaign to save babies lives by making sensitive testing for group B Streptococcus (GBS) available to all pregnant women on the NHS.

Guest speakers Jane Plumb, Chairman of Group B Strep Support, and Prof Philip Steer, Professor of Obstetrics at the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital in London, addressed an audience of MPs, MLAs, health professionals and families affected by group B Strep.

Professor Steer said, “GBS infection can usually be prevented by giving antibiotics during labour to women whose babies are most at risk. All expectant mothers should be given the opportunity to take a simple swab test and find out if they are carrying GBS; this knowledge could save their baby’s life. At the moment, lives are being lost needlessly.”

Susan Kyle, supporter of Group B Strep Support, found she carried GBS during her second pregnancy, had the recommended antibiotics in labour and her baby was born healthy, added: “Every mother should have the right to protect her baby from this deadly, but preventable, infection. In many countries - Canada, France, Italy, Australia and the USA to name a few - testing for GBS is a routine part of antenatal care. Northern Ireland cannot ignore its high infection rate and set a precedent for the whole of the UK by making reliable testing for GBS freely available to all pregnant women.”

Mr Donaldson, Northern Ireland’s new Junior Minister, said: “Northern Ireland has the highest rate of GBS infection in babies in the UK. Group B Strep causes many families unnecessary distress and heartache every year. We in Northern Ireland have the opportunity to lead the way in the UK by raising awareness of GBS and introducing screening to protect our babies from this devastating and preventable infection.”

Dr McDonnell, who is a GP, said: “Testing for GBS is a routine part of antenatal care in many countries but not in Northern Ireland. Accurate testing of pregnant woman must be made available by the Department of Health if we are to save parents the heartache of losing their newborn to this fatal but preventable infection”.

For more information about GBS, contact Group B Strep Support, tel: 0870 803 0023 or go to www.gbss.org.uk

The petition was drawn up by the charity Group B Strep Support and Pregnancy & birth magazine as part of a joint campaign to end the needless suffering and loss of life caused by preventable GBS infections. Nicholas Soames MP, Theresa May MP, Jeffrey Donaldson MP MLA, Philip Hollobone MP, Nia Griffith MP and TV medic Dr Chris Steele joined members of the charity and magazine staff to hand over the petition of more than 11,000 signatures.

Nicholas Soames MP said:
“The Government has so far failed to introduce routine screening of pregnant women for GBS carriage on the NHS. Perhaps they think it’s not worth the cost. But what is the cost to the NHS of caring for the 700 new-born babies each year who develop pneumonia, meningitis and septicaemia as a result of this infection, which is usually entirely preventable? Add to that, the ongoing costs of caring for the 40 or so babies who are left with permanent brain damage. Does it really pay the NHS to leave GBS infection to fate?”

As many as three out of 10 pregnant women may carry the GBS bacterium. Most are unaware of this fact, yet it is the most common cause of life-threatening infection in new-born babies in the UK and kills 75 babies every year. Giving antibiotics during labour to women whose babies are most at risk usually prevents GBS infection in the baby. Group B Strep Support says that were expectant mothers routinely tested for GBS, doctors could prevent over 80% of these infections. And according to recent medical research, testing all pregnant women for GBS using the sensitive test, plus treating those found to be at higher risk, would not only save lives but would save the Government £37 million a year.

In many countries, including France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Slovenia, South Africa, Australia, Canada and the USA, testing for GBS is a routine part of antenatal care, but in the UK most mums-to-be aren’t offered a test for GBS or even informed about it. If they are, the test widely used by the NHS gives a false negative result to around 50% of carriers. Sensitive testing is usually only available privately.

Jane Plumb set up the charity Group B Strep Support with her husband Robert after their second son, Theo, died from a GBS infection in 1996. She said:
“It’s disgraceful that the NHS is using a test which is so unreliable. Offering accurate testing to all pregnant women on the NHS would enable mothers to protect their babies from this deadly infection. This tragic death toll of tiny lives can and must be brought to an end.”

Nicholas Soames MP added:
“It is imperative that the Government takes note of the very substantial All Party support to get this wicked infection in new born babies dealt with far more effectively. Jane Plumb and her Group have done a wonderful job to raise public awareness and the Government must now act.”

For more information about group B Strep, please contact Group B Strep Support on 01444 416176 or visit www.gbss.org.uk.

The guest speakers are Prof. Phillip Steer and Jane Plumb GBSS. This event is by invitation only. Anyone interested in attending should email Jane or Lindsay at info@gbss.org.uk