A trial to help save one baby a week from dying in the UK is at risk of failing before it even begins as hospitals across the country refuse to take part.
Group B Strep is a killer infection which takes the lives of 50 babies each year and leaves another 75 with lifelong disabilities.
But a simple test during pregnancy could prevent newborns contracting the virus which can cause sepsis, pneumonia and meningitis.
The UK does not routinely test pregnant women for Group B Strep - also referred to as GBS or Strep B - unlike most wealthy countries such as the US, Canada and much of Europe.
Yet if the test was carried out routinely as part of the maternity care women receive it would cost the NHS just £11.
Charity Group B Strep Support have been campaigning for years for a trial which would be accepted by the government who says there is currently not enough data to support routine testing in the UK.
A £4million trial, run by the University of Nottingham, is due to begin in September, but it needs 80 hospitals across England, Wales and Scotland to take part, so 320,000 mothers and their babies can be tested.
But so far of the 80 hospitals needed - just 30 have said they will be part of the trial.
Shockingly even the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital, whose failures in maternity services were revealed in the Ockenden report and included families who lost their babies due to group B Strep, have not yet committed to the trial.
Chief Executive at Group B Strep Support, Jane Plumb told the Mirror: “It’s taken over 20 years of campaigning to get this trial commissioned. It’s devastating that only 30 of the 80 hospitals needed have signed up. We can’t let this trial fail.
"We need to fight for the 800 babies per year that are infected with this too often deadly infection.
"We need more hospitals to take part. We need to rally together and get this trial over the finish line.
"Most group B Strep infections in babies are preventable, but we have to test women to find out if they are carrying the bacteria. If we don’t know, then they can’t be offered the protective antibiotics in labour.
"Families so often tell us that the first time they hear of group B Strep is after their baby falls ill. For a mostly preventable infection, this is unforgivable - and must change.”
Mrs Plumb added: "We want to encourage every hospital to take part. We need people to ask for their MP’s support.
"This is an opportunity to save so many babies’ lives, but we only have 6 months to get hospitals on board. It really is now or never.”
The charity is asking people to write to their MP and the chief executive of their local hospital encouraging them to sign up to the trial before the deadline of September 30.
A draft letter is available here which you can amend to include your own experience with Strep B if you wish.
The 30 hospital trusts who have committed to taking part so far:
- Bolton NHS Foundation Trust
- County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
- East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust
- East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
- Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
- Kettering General Hospital
- King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust
- Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust
- Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust
- Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- North Tees & Hartlepool NHS Trust
- North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust
- Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust
- Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
- Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
- Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital
- Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
- Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- South Tyneside And Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust
- Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
- University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire
- University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust
- University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
- Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- West Middlesex University Hospital
- Whittington Health NHS Trust
For more about what Group B Strep is, where to get a private test, how to know if your baby has it and lots more, click here
