In 2009, I gave birth to my first child, a beautiful little boy I named Blake. 3 days later he passed away from Group B Streptococcus (GBS), something I had never heard of.

I have since learned that GBS is incredibly common. 2-4 women in every 10 woman (20-40%) will carry the GBS bacteria. Most women carrying GBS will have no symptoms. Carrying GBS is not harmful to you, but there is a small chance it can affect your baby around the time of birth.

Sadly my son was one of these babies.

In the UK, woman are not tested for GBS on the NHS, despite pretty much every other developed country in the world, offering specialised routine testing.

The charity, Group B Strep Support, has been tirelessly campaigning to change this. Currently, you can order a private test that will detect the GBS bacteria but unfortunately pregnant woman still do not know about GBS (although, in the 15 years since Blake passed, a lot of this has changed due to the campaigning of the charity) so they wouldn't know to order a private, potentially life saving test!

Myself and my good friend Jade, are walking 100km across the South Downs In September in Blakes memory. We hope to raise awareness about this preventable bacterial infection and funds for www.GBSS.org.uk to continue doing the amazing work they do.

Group B Streptococcus is the UK's most common cause of life-threatening infection in newborn babies and of meningitis in babies under age 3 months.

On average in the UK, at least

-two babies a day develop a group B Strep infection

-one baby a week dies from their GBS infection, and

-one baby a week survives with long-term disabilities – physical, mental or both.

Yet most group B Strep infections are preventable. Group B Strep Support informs families & health professionals about group B Strep to save tiny lives.