Swab test ‘may have saved twins’
A Lincolnshire woman who lost her newborn twins to a bacterial infection is hoping to raise awareness of the condition which killed them.
Jane Gothorpe's children, Euan and Kirsten, died from Group B Streptococcus, an infection related to meningitis, within days of being born.
The infection, carried in the mother's gut, is passed on during labour.
But a swab test not routinely given on the NHS can detect it. Campaigners want this to be made available to everyone.
Mrs Goathorpe from Dunholm near Lincoln had been trying for a family with her husband John for more than four years.
The twins were born in February.
She said that although the babies appeared perfectly healthy after their normal birth in February, their conditions soon worsened.
"About six o'clock the following evening John and the midwife were changing Kirsten's nappy and the midwife just thought she didn't look very well, so they called a paediatrician.
"It became apparent very quickly that she wasn't going to survive and Euan also started to deteriorate."
But the condition can be detected by a simple swab test costing around £32.
Mrs Gothorpe added: "You wonder why it's not available for everybody - and can you put a price on a treatment that might prevent what me and my husband have been through?"
Campaigners say women should be offered swab tests during pregnancy to see if they have the bacteria, and be given intravenous antibiotics in labour as an option.
But critics of the proposal fear antibiotics may do more harm than good and that there is a risk of allergic reaction.