Hello All

Raising awareness of the risks and horrors of group B Strep is something that I want to happen for everyone - that can make a difference and potentially save our precious babies’ lives.  Pregnant women and new parents rely so much on the information and help from the (often amazing) medical staff around them. And yet, like many of you, I’ve been shocked and really concerned about how little training many front-line health workers are given on group B Strep, and how little information they have to give to the families in their care.

You might feel, like me, that information about group B Strep should be automatically included in training for any relevant medical role – but it is not. Thankfully though, I was delighted to see an update from charity Group B Strep Support that, in partnership with Microbiome Courses, they’ve developed an online course about group B Strep for midwives, nurses, doctors and other health workers.                                 

On average in the UK:

- two babies each day develop a group B Strep infection
- one baby each week dies from a group B Strep infection and
- one baby each week survives a group B Strep infection with life-changing disability. 

Despite this, relatively few health workers feel they have sufficient knowledge about group B Strep, and even among those who do know about it, there can be many myths and misunderstandings. This online course could help change this and help reduce these horrible and unnecessary statistics.

There’s a special launch offer, so it’s really affordable (from £30 plus VAT for low/unwaged/students). If you know a midwife, nurse, doctor or other health professional working in maternity care, why not tell them about the course?

Here’s the link to more information about the course on the charity’s website https://gbss.org.uk/health-professionals-2/online-group-b-strep-gbs-course/.

Thank you for your ongoing support and spreading awareness.

Fiona