Over 250,000 people have signed a Change.org petition calling for every pregnant woman in the UK to be offered:
- information about group B Strep (GBS)
- the GBS-specific ECM (enriched culture medium) test for GBS carriage and
- antibiotics in labour if GBS is detected during the current pregnancy, or where other recognised risk factors are present
Meningitis Research Foundation applauds the petition which highlights the need for better prevention of GBS infection.
GBS is the UK’s most common cause of life-threatening infection in newborn babies, causing meningitis, sepsis and pneumonia. Carried normally by one in every four women, the GBS bacteria can pass from a pregnant woman to her baby around birth. It kills on average one baby every week in the UK.
Many other developed countries routinely screen pregnant women for the presence of GBS bacteria and offer antibiotics in labour if GBS is detected.
The charity, Group B Strep Support, and families affected by GBS, delivered the petition to the Department of Health on Monday 23rd January 2017.
Sign the petition