Group Strep B Awareness Month: Claiming for birthing injuries

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July marks Group Strep B Awareness Month, dedicated to spreading knowledge about Group B Streptococcus (GBS) and its impact on pregnant women and their newborns.

This month aims to inform and educate expectant mothers, healthcare professionals, and the broader community about the importance of screening, prevention, and treatment.

Group Strep B Awareness

Group Strep B can pose a fatal risk to pregnant women and their babies, and healthcare professionals must spot the signs early on.

Meanwhile, if you or your baby has suffered harm after healthcare professionals failed to diagnose you with and/or take action for Group Strep B, you may be entitled to claim compensation for their failures.

We have broken down everything you need to know about Group Strep B:

What is Group B Streptococcus (GBS)?

Group B Streptococcus is a type of bacterial infection found in the digestive and lower reproductive tracts of both men and women. While GBS is typically harmless in adults, it can pose significant risks during pregnancy.

Approximately 1 in 4 pregnant women carry GBS, which can be transmitted to the baby during childbirth, leading to serious complications such as sepsis, pneumonia, meningitis, cerebral palsy, or brain damage.

How do I know if I’ve got Group Strep B?

Routine GBS screening is recommended between 35 and 37 weeks of pregnancy. This simple swab test can identify the presence of GBS bacteria, allowing for intervention ahead of the birth of your child.

For women who test positive for GBS, receiving antibiotics during labour can significantly reduce the risk of passing the infection to the baby.

Group Strep B symptoms in pregnancy

Many adults carry group B strep in their bodies — usually in the bowel, vagina, rectum, bladder or throat — and have no signs or symptoms.

However, in some cases, group B strep can cause a urinary tract infection or other more serious infections. Signs and symptoms of infections that may be caused by group B strep include the following:

Urinary tract infection

A strong, persistent urge to urinate
A burning sensation or pain when urinating
Passing frequent, small amounts of urine
Urine that appears red, bright pink or cola-coloured — a sign of blood in the urine
Pelvic pain

Blood infection (bacteremia)

Fever
Chills
Confusion or lack of alertness

Pneumonia

Fever
Chills
Cough
Shortness of breath
Chest pain when you breathe or cough

Skin or soft-tissue infection

Swelling, warmth or redness in the area of the infection
Pain in the area of the infection
Lesions with pus or drainage

Bone or joint infection

Fever
Chills
Swelling, warmth or redness over the area of the infection
Pain in the area of the infection
Stiffness or inability to use a limb or joint

Signs and symptoms in babies

If you had group B strep during pregnancy, there’s a small risk it could spread to your baby and make them very ill.

If this happens, it’s usually soon after they’re born. Your baby may be monitored in the hospital for up to 12 hours to check for any problems. They’ll be given antibiotics in a vein if they develop symptoms:

Being floppy or not responding normally
Grunting when breathing, or working hard to breathe when you look at their chest or stomach
Very fast or slow breathing
An unusually high or low temperature
Changes in their skin colour or blotchy skin
Not feeding well or vomiting milk up
An unusually fast or slow heart rate

Group Strep B Claims

If your healthcare provider has failed to manage Group Strep B adequately, such as failing to diagnose or provide adequate treatment to prevent further issues, which has led to injuries to yourself or your baby, you may be entitled to claim compensation.

This may be due to a delayed diagnosis or failure to provide adequate treatment, such as antibiotics during birth to prevent your baby from contracting the infection. If this has been the case and you or your baby has suffered as a result, you may be entitled to make a medical negligence claim.

Medical Negligence claims – What are the criteria?

To make a successful medical negligence claim, the following needs to be proven:

That the healthcare professional responsible for providing your medical treatment breached their duty of care, meaning they failed to provide the standard of care expected of a competent professional in their field
That this breach of duty directly caused or significantly contributed to your injury or illness, and that this has had a significant effect on your life
That you are making the claim within the legal time limit, which is three years from the date of the incident or the date you became aware of the negligent treatment in most cases. There are some exceptions, such as cases involving children, or individuals who lack mental capacity, where the time limit may be extended or removed altogether.

Who can bring about a claim?

The victim of the negligence can bring about a claim in their own right. However, it may sadly be the case that the victim is no longer able to bring about a claim or has passed. In such circumstances, a claim can be brought about by the executor of the estate or an authorised person.

For further information about whether you can bring about a claim, please contact the medical negligence team who will be able to advise further.

How much compensation will I get?

It is often difficult to value clinical negligence claims at their outset given the complexities involved however we will pursue two forms of compensation for you:

Firstly we will pursue compensation known as general damages – this is an award of money for the pain and suffering you have endured as a result of the negligence.
Secondly, we will pursue compensation known as special damages – this is a financial award for all of your out-of-pocket expenses such as travel expenses, medication costs, loss of earnings, and treatment costs both past and future. This list is not exhaustive and is very case-specific.

Why should I use Oakwood Solicitors Ltd?

At Oakwood Solicitors Ltd, we have a dedicated team of solicitors and paralegals who have many years of experience between them in running cases of this nature. They are highly trained to deal with all aspects of clinical and medical negligence.

Oakwood Solicitors Ltd wishes to ensure that clients are not overwhelmed by legal jargon or medical terms that they don’t understand and aims to allow the claims procedure to be as transparent as possible.