Raise awareness of Group B Strep in Pregnancy!
This Baby Loss Awareness week 9 – 15 October, Strepelle want all expectant parents to test or get ready to test for Group B Streptococcus (also known as Group B Strep and GBS).
Strepelle’s home to lab test kit will let them know, with great accuracy whether Group B Strep will be present during delivery and give them the opportunity to work with their medical team to stop the infection before it is passed to their baby.
One in 5 pregnant women will carry the bacteria at any one time. According to new research put together by Bounty on behalf of charity, Group B Strep Support,
“Two thirds of expectant or new mothers feel they are being let down because they are not being properly informed about an infection that kills one baby every week in the UK.
What is GBS:
GBS is the UK’s most common cause of life-threatening infection in newborn babies, causing sepsis, pneumonia and meningitis, and claims the life of one baby a week. Current infection rates in the UK see two babies a day develop the infection; one baby a week does not survive and one baby a week survives with disability.” Strepelle is a home-to-laboratory GBS test which can be bought at
www.strepelle.com or at independent pharmacies for £39.99. The test gives pregnant women the opportunity to test for this devastating infection from 35 weeks, with the highest accuracy ECM testing. If positive they are sent a letter to give them access to the potentially life-saving antibiotics during labour. Strepelle offers specialist advice from consultant midwife Leanna Beckford via their social media channels facebook and Instagram to offer further peace of mind to pregnant women and couples.
The UK is currently one of the only developed countries in the world which doesn’t offer routine screening for GBS. In the UK, 70 babies a year die from Group B Strep infection The only way of knowing if a pregnant woman is carrying the bacterium is by having a laboratory test. The highly accurate and easy to use Strepelle test (
www.strepelle.com) will determine whether the pregnant woman is carrying the bacterium.
Order your test kit here.
More information on Group B Strep in Pregnancy!
You can read more about Group B Strep on the NHS website here:
http://www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/2037.aspx?categoryid=54
