My cousin Teddy, a beautiful baby boy, was born a year ago today. The whole family were so happy, and relieved that he had arrived safe and well.

7 days later Teddy became very unwell and was diagnosed with Group B Streptococcal (Strep) meningitis.

Despite the very best efforts of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, we lost Teddy when he was only 12 days old.

Sadly many of the family never got the chance to meet Teddy and give him a cuddle, or support his parents in saying goodbye at his funeral, due to the covid restrictions. This has been and will continue to be a very difficult time for his parents and his whole family and their friends.

For the next 12 days I will be running in memory of Teddy. I hope to raise awareness of Group B Strep and meningitis and also hopefully raise some funds for the charities Meningitis Now and Group B Strep Support.

Many people have never heard of Group B Strep.

Group B Strep is one of many bacteria that live in the body, and usually will cause no harm, but can occasionally make babies unwell before or after they are born.

Testing for Group B Strep is NOT routinely offered to pregnant women in the UK (unlike many other countries in Europe and around the world), but is available privately if pregnant women are made aware of this at their prenatal visits.

Pregnant women who are carrying Group B Strep should be offered antibiotic treatment before or during labour to reduce the risk to their baby.

Group B Strep is the most common cause of severe infection in newborn babies, causing sepsis, pneumonia or meningitis. On average, every day in the UK 2 babies develop Group B Strep infection, one of those babies dies every week, and one survivor is left with long term disability.

The charity Group B Strep Support works to raise awareness of this preventable condition, supports families affected and lobbies parliament to provide testing for all pregnant women.

https://gbss.org.uk/

The charity Meningitis Now works to increase awareness of the signs and symptoms of meningitis, and has the vision to work towards a future where no one in the UK looses their life to meningitis and everyone affected gets support to rebuild their lives.

https://www.meningitisnow.org/

I am running to raise funds for the important work both these amazing charities do.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, I hope you will be able to support my running (I'll need it!) and please speak to your family and friends about this condition so more people are aware of it.

lots of love

Kirstyx

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