Mum and baby nearly died during childbirth despite £15 test that could have saved them

dailyrecord.co.uk:

An angry mum has hit out at the NHS after she and her baby daughter nearly died during childbirth, although it could have been easily prevented.Preya Vaja has been left with PTSD and post-natal depression due to the trauma of baby Uma needing to be resuscitated and sent to intensive care when she was born.Both mum and daughter had sepsis caused by Group B Strep - an infection carried by one in four women - and easily detected by a swab test costing just £15.Group B Strep kills one baby a week in the UK and leaves another 50 each year with a life-changing disability.But despite the number of deaths the NHS does not provide the test as part of its routine maternity care.Today a new study in England led by the UKHSA has found that Black and Asian babies face higher rates of group B Strep disease.The study, published in medical journal Pediatrics today, found that in infants of black ethnicity the rate of invasive GBS disease was 51 per cent higher than for white infants and 28 per cent higher for those of Asian ethnicity.

Speaking to the Mirror Preya, 38, said: "I'm really angry, a test could have saved my family from the physical and mental trauma we went through. "We both nearly died.

Knowledge is power. I didn't know anything about Group B Strep until it was too late."This was my second baby, I was classed as high risk as I had complications in my first pregnancy, so thought I knew what I had to worry about."Preya, from Leicester, said she was taken into hospital after her waters broke at 34 weeks and was told she would be induced if she didn't start her labour naturally within 24 hours.The next day Preya started having contractions but knew this was not like her first labour."I didn't feel the same, it felt wrong, I