'Group B Strep took our newborn daughter from us’: Northants couple want to raise awareness of the infection that killed their baby

When Kim and Rob Harte’s first daughter, Grace, was born it should have been one of the happiest days of their lives.

But Grace was born with no heartbeat and the new parents had to watch on as midwives and doctors performed CPR on her.

The couple had to make the heart-wrenching decision to tell the medical staff to stop - a decision that they say still affects them, nearly five years later.

Now Kim and Rob, from Earls Barton, who went onto have two more daughters, Ivy who is three and Erin who is one, have turned their attention to raising funds and awareness for the infection that killed Grace.

Rob said: “Kim had a textbook pregnancy throughout and there was never any mention of group B Strep apart from a little bit of reading online that we did.

“Grace started making her way but about ten minutes before she was born we lost the heartbeat.

“It was then that I had to push the alarm bell and we were bombarded with midwives and doctors who got Grace out as soon as possible but there was still no heartbeat or even a cry.

“They performed CPR on Grace but we had to make the decision to tell them to stop - that was the single worst decision any first time expectant parent would have to make and it still affects us to this day.

“We later found out via a post mortem and internal investigation that it was Group B Strep that took Grace from us.”

Group B Strep is a common bacterium that is harmless, but when carried by pregnant women it can be passed onto babies during labour. For some of those babies the bacterium can cause potentially life-threatening infection.

The NHS does not test pregnant women for group B Strep, which is why Rob and Kim have teamed up with the the Group B Strep Support charity, that works to eradicate the bacterium in newborns.

Rob added: “Carrying group B Strep is symptomless and can be combated via simple antibiotics as soon as your waters break but we were given no information about this throughout our entire pregnancy and that's what myself and Kim want to help change.

“Ever since that day, we’ve been campaigning to make the group B Strep test (Gold Standard ECM Test) standardised on the NHS and for the NHS to offer information to expectant parents about group B Strep.

“Then if the mother is found to carry the bacteria they can be given the right antibiotics during labour to reduce the chance of the baby developing a group B Strep infection.”

This year, Rob and Kim are both taking on running challenges to mark what would have been Grace’s fifth birthday and to raise funds for the group B Strep support charity.

The couple is preparing to run the London Landmarks Half Marathon together on March 29 2020 and Rob will also run the London Marathon on April 26.

Jane Plumb MBE, founder and chief executive of the Group B Strep Support charity, added: “We’re so grateful to Kim and Rob for running the London Marathon and the London Landmarks Half Marathon to raise funds for Group B Strep Support and in memory of their daughter, Grace.

“It’s a major achievement and will raise invaluable funds for our work in informing and educating expectant parents and their families about group B Strep and how to reduce the risk to newborns.

“Sadly, in the UK we continue to see the rates of group B Strep in babies rising. We are calling on the NHS to offer all pregnant women testing for group B Strep so that other families do not suffer as the Harte’s have.”

To donate to Rob and Kim’s fundraising, visit their Gofundme page.