Rob & Kim's campaign for Group B Strep Support
Tax deductible
Do you want to join me in making a difference? I'm raising money in aid of Group B Strep Support and every donation will help. Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me.
More information about Group B Strep Support: Group B Strep Support is the UK charity dedicated to eradicating group B Strep infection in newborn babies. We support families, educate health professionals, and campaign for improved prevention strategies. If you would like to know more about our work, or how you can get further involved, please visit www.gbss.org.uk
Hi my names Rob Harte and I am married to Kim and we have 2 beautiful girls called Ivy (3) & Erin (6 months). We have been together for nearly 12 years and been married for 6. We just want to say a massive Thank You for visiting our page and hope you take the time to read our story.
Our story began back in 2014 when after only a few weeks of trying, Kim came running down the stairs to tell me that she was pregnant with our first child Grace . We were both overwhelmed with joy and we couldn't wait to become parents but with that hope and joy of becoming first time parents there's also a certain naivety because everything's new and exciting and you go buy all your nursery furniture and begin decorating and just start preparing for another little person to come into your life.
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.
So eventually I get the phone call on the 18th March that Kim's waters had gone and after being sent home once as the contractions weren't strong enough we finally arrived back at the hospital and were greeted by the midwife who would stay with us all night. Things progressed steadily through the night and just as morning hit , Grace started making her way but about 10 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 midwifes 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 single worst decision any first time expectant parent would want to 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. This is a symptomless infection which can be combatted 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
So ever since that day myself and Kim have 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 GBS so if the mother is found to have the infection they can be given the right antibiotics during labour which will help to combat this infection and hopefully less babies will be affected by this potentially deadly infection,
So after a few years of fundraising separately we are finally going to team up next year to mark what would have been Grace's 5th birthday.
The first activity will be us both running the London Landmarks Half Marathon which is a race I have done before but will be Kim's first ever race as she has only recently started running.
There will be more challenges as well that we will be undertaking and the details will follow soon.
More information about Group B Strep Support: Group B Strep Support is the UK charity dedicated to eradicating group B Strep infection in newborn babies. We support families, educate health professionals, and campaign for improved prevention strategies. If you would like to know more about our work, or how you can get further involved, please visit www.gbss.org.uk
Hi my names Rob Harte and I am married to Kim and we have 2 beautiful girls called Ivy (3) & Erin (6 months). We have been together for nearly 12 years and been married for 6. We just want to say a massive Thank You for visiting our page and hope you take the time to read our story.
Our story began back in 2014 when after only a few weeks of trying, Kim came running down the stairs to tell me that she was pregnant with our first child Grace . We were both overwhelmed with joy and we couldn't wait to become parents but with that hope and joy of becoming first time parents there's also a certain naivety because everything's new and exciting and you go buy all your nursery furniture and begin decorating and just start preparing for another little person to come into your life.
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.
So eventually I get the phone call on the 18th March that Kim's waters had gone and after being sent home once as the contractions weren't strong enough we finally arrived back at the hospital and were greeted by the midwife who would stay with us all night. Things progressed steadily through the night and just as morning hit , Grace started making her way but about 10 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 midwifes 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 single worst decision any first time expectant parent would want to 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. This is a symptomless infection which can be combatted 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
So ever since that day myself and Kim have 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 GBS so if the mother is found to have the infection they can be given the right antibiotics during labour which will help to combat this infection and hopefully less babies will be affected by this potentially deadly infection,
So after a few years of fundraising separately we are finally going to team up next year to mark what would have been Grace's 5th birthday.
The first activity will be us both running the London Landmarks Half Marathon which is a race I have done before but will be Kim's first ever race as she has only recently started running.
There will be more challenges as well that we will be undertaking and the details will follow soon.
Organizer
Rob Harte
Organizer
Group B Strep Support
Registered nonprofit
Donations eligible for Gift Aid.
