Woman whose baby developed common life-threatening condition seeks NHS tests

TOni Alonzo-Grazier woke up at night after dreaming that hospital alarms were sounding after her child was diagnosed with a common, potentially deadly bacterial infection.

Doctors discovered something was wrong with their baby after he started grunting – and hospital staff were later told he had a rapid heartbeat.

Her newborn was placed in intensive care for a week as doctors sought to treat his group B strep. The baby contracted the disease again and was then readmitted to hospital for another 12 days.

The fear of her baby dying had a long-term impact on her mental health: Ms Alonzo-Grazier’s therapist says the ordeal left her with borderline post-traumatic stress disorder.

She was able to leave the hospital after her son was born, while his son remained in the hospital for several days as doctors worked to determine what was wrong with him.

“Being released without him was the worst thing I ever experienced,” Alonzo-Grazier said. The Independent“I cried all the way out of the hospital. I still remember that exit.”

The 36-year-old, who lives in the West Midlands, is now calling for all pregnant women to be offered a free test for the potentially deadly disease as part of their NHS care, as she warned many parents have lost their babies to the condition.

She said she had never heard of the disease before, was not offered a test during her pregnancy and had no idea the disease could be tested for while she was carrying her child.

Group B streptococcus is a bacteria and one of the leading causes of life-threatening infections in newborns. However, most expectant parents can only be tested through private healthcare.

Its presence is common during pregnancy and rarely causes problems, but in rare cases it can spread to the baby and make him sick. Although the disease is usually not diagnosed, it can be discovered during tests done for different reasons by a vaginal swab or urine test.

On average, two babies a day develop the disease in the UK, and one baby dies every week from group B streptococcus infection. Most of these cases could be prevented if the disease was diagnosed early and treated promptly.

Symptoms in a baby include floppiness or different response, grunting when breathing, fast or slow breathing, change in body temperature, changes in skin color, and vomiting.

Ms Alonzo-Grazier’s call comes as new research reveals that around nine in ten new or expectant mothers in the UK believe that group B strep screening should be routinely available through the NHS.

Group B strep is not just a statistic; it is the leading cause of serious infection in our newborns, and the lack of accessible testing is a preventable tragedy.

Jane Plumb

The study, conducted by the charity Group B Strep Support, found that around eight in ten mothers said they would like the NHS to test them for the condition – and seven in ten of them said they were unaware or had not been informed about the possibility of private testing.

Around six in ten of 1,000 new or expectant mothers surveyed in the UK were unsure whether they could spot the signs of group B streptococcus infection in their child, and around three-quarters were unaware that the condition could cause meningitis or septicaemia.

“Leon was born at 1 p.m.,” Alonzo-Grazier says. “I had gestational diabetes, so I was kept in the hospital for 24 hours to be monitored. At 11 p.m., he was making strange grunts – that was the first time I noticed something was wrong. He was taken to the neonatal unit.”

It wasn’t until five days later that she and her husband discovered he had group B strep. Doctors first thought he had fluid in his lungs, then an unknown infection, which they treated as sepsis.

“I freaked out when they said sepsis,” she recalls. “I was researching what strep B was. This is my third child and I had never heard of strep B.”

Ms Alonzo-Grazier, who works at a secondary school, said her son spent seven days in a neonatal intensive care unit.

“I didn’t sleep very well,” she adds. “I kept checking my phone in case the neonatology department had called. I felt like I had lost a limb. I was afraid he would never leave the hospital.”

She explained that six days after his discharge, Leon contracted group B strep again and was readmitted to the hospital.

“I felt like history was repeating itself,” she adds. “It was surreal. I stayed in the hospital with him for those 12 days.”

Fortunately, Leon is now fully recovered. He is 20 months old and a “happy, lively little boy.”

“There needs to be more awareness about group B strep,” Alonzo-Grazier said. “It frustrates me that there isn’t. Women should be aware, especially since it can be life-threatening to their baby.”

I freaked out when they said sepsis. I was researching “what is group B strep?” This is my third child and I had never heard of group B strep.

Toni Alonzo – Grazier

The new study found that just over two-thirds of respondents said they wanted more information about the disease, which can cause serious infections such as pneumonia.

On average, one baby a week in the UK recovers from a group B streptococcus infection, only to develop a life-changing disability in the process.

Campaigners say most high-income countries routinely offer prenatal testing to all pregnant women, including Germany, the United States, Canada, Spain and France.

Jane Plumb, Chief Executive of Group B Strep Support, said: “Although over 80% of pregnant women want to be tested, the vast majority are not informed about their options. At Group B Strep Support, we are calling for Group B Strep to become a notifiable disease so that robust national data can provide a full picture of the burden it poses, and we are asking national policy makers to be open to new evidence when the results of the GBS3 trial are published in 2025.”

“Group B strep is not just a statistic; it is the leading cause of serious infection in our newborns, and the lack of accessible testing is a preventable tragedy.”