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Approximately 1 in 4 pregnant women carry GBS, the leading cause of sepsis and meningitis in newborns according to the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). GBS can also infect babies during pregnancy and the first few months of life.

Not all babies exposed to GBS become infected, but, for those who do, the results can be devastating. GBS can cause babies to be miscarried, stillborn, born prematurely, become very sick, have lifelong handicaps, or die. Even babies born to mother who test negative can become infected by group B strep.

Fortunately there are many ways to help protect babies from group B strep. The website contains resources for you learn more about GBS and help prevent its devastating effects 

Check out our resources to help you get started!

Special thanks to Aayan's mother for sharing her son's voice making the grunting sounds which are a common, yet often unrecognized, sign of GBS meningitis

This May, we want to recognize mothers! Whether a mother has a completely healthy baby, her baby deals with an illness, or she has lost a child, she deserves love and recognition just the same. This May we encourage everyone to support and acknowledge all mothers.

What We Do

  • Provide complimentary GBS awareness info and materials
  • Exhibit and present at conferences worldwide​​.
  • Advocate to close the gaps in GBS care for ALL babies​

What You Should Know

Each of the three distinct time periods when GBS can infect babies has its own prevention challenges and strategies.

How You Can Help 

There are many ways to help from sharing a brochure with a pregnant friend to organizing a trail ride fundraiser to starting an awareness campaign with your department of health!

GBSI's Upcoming Projects and Campaigns ​

Together, we can be the change we want to see surrounding group B!
A simple conversation can have a big impact!
Birthday & Angelversary events to promote GBS awareness
Join us July 23-25, 2019 as we host the International Conference on Group B Strep (ICGBS). We will be viewing and discussing presentations on various aspects of GBS. It  is a virtual collaboration of health care professionals, researchers, families, and other interested individuals working to increase awareness of GBS disease. It is all online, no travel necessary, and registration is free! ​
Thank you to our Diamond Sponsor
GBSI will be sharing the following presentations at the 2019 Stillbirth Summit! 
  • Does successful shared decision-making (SDM) obviate the need for signed consent prior to fetal membrane sweeping (FMS) to induce labor?
  • How does nonmedical (doula) supportive participation improve birthing outcomes? What about stillbirth and group B strep results?
  • Preconception care can reduce risk of stillbirth
  • Reducing Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Complicated Grief (CG) after Stillbirth (SB): a Logic Model-informed Research Agenda
  • Prompting parent prenatal infection prevention using the mnemonic “HYGIENE” 

​GBS Efforts and News around the World!

GBS Parent & Survivor Awareness Efforts
  • ​Mom shares last photo of 'healthy' newborn taken hours before undetected group B strep death. “No temperature,” Vandenbrouck, of Devon, told SWNS. “There was not a single thing wrong. She never woke up.” Full article
  • In a matter of days, a Salem mother watched her 7-week-old baby goes from happy and alert to gravely sick with GBS meningitis to dying in her arms. She tells her story here in the Statesman Journal, part of the USA Today network.
  • Heather Bryan, who lost her son Finnegan to group B strep, is donating a portion of the sales of the beautiful leather bag she designed in his name to GBSI. Check out her website ​at http://www.bagswithacause.com/            
In the News
Hospitals to test mums-to-be for risky group-B strep
Screening for a life-threatening bacterial infection of babies is to be offered in a trial with 80 hospitals in England, Wales and Scotland,
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Prevalence of oropharyngeal group B Streptococcus colonization in mothers, family, and health care providers
28 Sept. 2018 Group B Streptococcus colonizes the oropharynx in 1 in 5 mothers, family and friends, and health care providers who come in direct contact with neonates. 
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United States of American Senate committee hearing on vaccines.
 Mar 5, 2019 One of the panelists mentioned GBS vaccine efforts. For the full video click here.
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Serocorrelates of protection against infant group B streptococcus disease
January 22, 2019. A serocorrelate of protection against invasive disease in young infants is being considered to facilitate vaccine early licensure, followed by demonstration of efficacy assessed postlicensure.
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Rates of Early-Onset Group B Strep Down Among U.S. Infants
Disease caused by early onset group B Streptococcus (GBS) has declined among infants, and rates of late-onset GBS disease are now higher than early onset disease among U.S. infants, researchers found. By Molly Walker, Staff Writer, MedPage Today January 14, 2019
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GBSI's Newsletter: The Globe May 2019 

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Our past events and GBS news can be viewed in our Event & News Archive.
Please see all we’ve accomplished with your support!

​Donations
As a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization, we rely on your donations to enable us to create and distribute GBS awareness materials. Please help save babies and their families from the devastation of GBS disease!