Grouo strep b

[Kannecam]

Hi all, im new to this thread! Just basicaly looking for some advice on what i should do! I have a 9 week old son, i was group strep b positive when i was pregnant with him! When i was told all way through my pregnancy to go straight to hospital when waters broke for antibiotics it obviously stuck! So me doing the right thing rang the hospital on the 12/04/2018 when my waters broke at 7pm the hospital advised me to go straight down and i did, but when i got there the antibiotics wernt ready the hospital said aparently a massive hospital like that didnt have the antibiotics there and ready waiting for me and my baby boy so 3/4 hours passed by and finally got our medicine we needed! I had about 3 lots before my son made his apperance 14/04/2018 at 10:22am, he was born profoundly deaf.... everything iv looked up on about strep b says that if the infection reaches the baby in a certain time it can be life threatning, can cause long term deafness or blindness!! Now im not looking for somebody to blame!! No matter how devasting this is hes still our beautiful baby boy wev waited so long for after having our two gorgeous girls with hearings perfectly fine, no family history either with deafness on either sides, i just carnt help but think if the hospital would of had the antibiotics ready and waiting to give to me when they should have could that of prevented this, or maybe its having group strep its self thats caused his deafness! I feel like i need to look into this more! I just dont no, tia x

I also have strep b, and never knew this as a side effect ! Hes obvs still your perfect baby boy, but it's horrible to think that the antibiotics maybe could have prevented this, as much as I understand hospitals are busy places, not having the antibiotics is a bit out of order ! Sorry I've not been much help ! X

Op I have no advice but I just wanted to say how shocked I am they didn't have the medication for you!
That's appalling!
Have you spoken to your midwife/gp/consultant about the link between his deafness and the strep b?
Your emotions must be all over the place
But I do want to say that I have trained for years in BSL and was working as a support worker/interpreter for some wonderful deaf people!
If you are willing to learn sign language and support your boy then his life will be amazing! The deaf community is an incredible thing!

Sending you a big hug x

Hi Kannecam,

You can contact personal injury solicitors so they look at what happened.
They will ask to see your medical records and that of your son. I think the cost is about £50 (this might be for each patient so might be £100). Then they will assess whether they think you have claim. (apart from the cost of the copy of medical notes, you don't have to pay anything else).

I'm not saying you should/want to sue the hospital (it's your decision based on what the solicitors say and there might not be grounds for suing) but this way, someone will be able to give you a professional opinion as to what happened.
You can ask for a review of your notes with a midwife at the hospital but I doubt it will answer your question. If something was done wrong, the likelihood of the hospital admitting (during a simple review) they messed up is extremely slim.

Sorry to hear what happened. Realistically if he was well after birth and not really sick I doubt it was the minor delay in the antibiotics that caused his deafness. I say minor because he still got three doses in before he was born. I would think it is coincidental about his hearing but of it helps you you can ask for answers and see what Is said

I had intravenous antibiotics in labour when an infection was detected. My waters had been broken 48 hours by then. As a precaution, my baby was given antibiotics for a week. It might be worth asking for an investigation just to be sure proper protocol is being followed.

Hi Op, I’m sorry your son was born deaf! I have group strep B well I had it about 7 years ago (was picked up during a routine thrush swab) and ever since I was assumed to be having it so I always tell midwifes. I’m wondering if they are trying to reduce the amount of antibiotics they give out for financial reasons so that’s why they Sartre yours slightly later after you arrived but by sound of it it seems you still had all the necessary dose if you have had 3/4 doses before your son was born and as it was said before if there was nothing picked up at birth I’m not sure how likely it is that an infection caused the deafness.
During this pregnancy i was advised by the hospital that I could have a strep B test around 37-38 weeks to see if I still have then could possibly decline antibiotics but I’m aware that even if strep B is tested negative one week, I could still have it in 2-3 weeks time by the time I reach 40 weeks and I could potentially not have antibiotics and case issues to the baby.
I did raise this with the midwife and that I really didn’t like this idea and asked if it was for financial reasons and she didn’t seem very honest about at all. So my plan is not to have the test but to automatically have the antibiotics as soon as i can!
Hope you get some answers X

Hi, I also have group b strep. Was given all the relevant antibiotics in all 4 labours. I'm not part of the compensation culture, but I do think this needs to be looked at in more detail - for a big hospital to "not have the antibiotics" is ridiculous. Agree with Toscacat - its highly unlikely the group B caused anything, but I think I would have to ask for an investigation. Congratulations on ur beautiful DS

Thankyou everyone for your opinions, like i said before hes gorgeous so forward hes amazing xxx

Hi, congratulations on your baby boy! With regards to the antibiotics, you just need a dose 4 hours prior to delivery if possible, you say that you had 3 or 4 doses, so you were completely covered by them.
Deafness isn’t something that would have happened at delivery, but whilst everything was forming in utero, or after The baby having strep b itself after birth, which you’d have known about as it’s a very severe infection.
I hope you get lots of support and assistance to help him with his deafness, be reassured that it’s not due to a delay in antibiotics .

Oh OP what a heartache to have to wonder. It could well be worth having it investigated, either by PALS or a solicitor, but prepare yourself the outcome may not be conclusive.

Also, this short film by a UK actress recently won an Oscar and is well worth a watch - it's about children with hearing loss: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b09rfcbz/the-silent-child

Wishing you and your family all the best xx