A mum whose newborn baby suffered severe brain damage and died after contracting group B Strep is calling for routinely testing of the common birth infection. Louise Martin's son Joshua was diagnosed with group B strep (GBS) three days after he was born and the infection left to severe complications including brain damage. GBS is the most common cause of infection in newborns in Britain which can be passed to babies around birth.
Mum Louise, 39, had become concerned about her baby started grunting and was not interested in feeding - signs of a GBS infection. After being sent home from Lister Hospital in Stevenage a day after Joshua was born, Louise called the hospital twice with her concerns but was told there was nothing to worry about. At two days old, Joshua was re-admitted to Lister Hospital where he was diagnosed with GBS meningitis and put on a ventilator.
Joshua suffered severe brain damage and lived for eight months with severe complications before he died in his mum's arms. Louise, of Hitchin, Hertforshire, said: "The pain of losing Joshua is still as raw now as it was then, we loved him so much. "We have lost our beautiful son, our daughters a brother who they adored, and grandparents have lost their only grandson.
I believe that Joshua would still be here with us and experiencing a happy, healthy life if the GBS infection was diagnosed earlier. It was only after researching more about it that I realised how common GBS is. It's difficult to understand why more isn't.