Couple from Cornwall who lost their baby son warn about signs of Group B Strep
Little Ezrah Pollard lost his life at just 19 days old
Last updated 25th Apr 2022
A couple from Cornwall are warning people to look for the signs of Group B Strep after their son lost his life at just 19 days old.
Sarah Doolin and Craig Pollard, who live in Helston, went with their son Ezrah Pollard to A&E after what seemed like ordinary symptoms escalated quickly.
Ezrah's Mum, Sarah, said: "All of his check-ups were going really well but unfortunately a couple of weeks into his life he became quite poorly quite quickly and unexpectedly. At the start of that we didn't know how serious that was".
Craig told us the symptoms didn't seem unusual and they weren't aware how serious is could become at first.
He said: "I think a lot of the symptoms generally are quite common in young children. What we've heard from a lot of friends and people who've had babies, what we were experiencing wasn't out of the ordinary but we didn't know exact symptoms because no-one had really talked to us about it.
Sarah added: "It seemed like normal things, like missing a feed, perhaps a little bit grouchy but nothing really alarming however a few hours after that a few things started to happen that concerned us like him grunting, his temperature rose and he still hadn't had anything to eat at that point.
"That's when we called 111 and ended up in A&E".
Not long after being seen in hospital in Truro, the couple were sent to Bristol Hospital for treatment of their baby boy.
Sarah told us: "A brain scan at Bristol confirmed that he not only had Group B Strep infection but he also had a really aggressive form of meningitis that had affected his brain and left him with complete brain injury which meant that he was no longer in a position to survive the
"It was a case of us going from feeling like he was in good health to a couple of mild symptoms that we were monitoring, to a couple of hours later us being in A&E to a couple of hours later us being told he wouldn't survive".
They're now fundraising in Ezrah's memory so other families don't have to go through the same which goes towards the The Grand Appeal which funds Bristol Children’s Hospital and Group B Strep Support.
"It's obviously very hard after such a short time of Ezrah passing but we don't want people going through what we're going through right now so we're trying to take strength from the fact we could possibly help others and really make a difference to anyone else out there".
They told us the memory of Ezrah Pollard will always be with them.
Sarah continued: "There's a bereavement team when something like this happens, when you lose a baby.
"The team in Bristol were incredible at doing some memory making with us, things we would've never considered at the time in the situation we were in but things like taking handprints and being given a memory box with things in it you could do like taking a lock of hair or reading a story.
"That's something we've now got at home with us that is really powerful thing to look back on and remember. Some sentimental things to remember that final day with him".
What is Group B Strep?
According to Group B Strep Support: Group B Streptoccus is the most common cause of severe infections in newborn babies.
GBS or Strep B often causes sepsis, pneumonia or meningitis and on average two babies develop it in the UK each day, resulting in either losing their life or living with a long-term disability.
Between 1996 and 2020, the website reported England's rate of Group B Strep infection in babies rose by 77%, and is higher than many other high-income countries.
Symptoms in babies can include not feeding well, grunting, changes in skin colour, a high temperature and being sleepy or unresponsive.
To find out more about other symptoms and get support for Group Strep B, you can visit their support website.