"I had often thought about wanting something visual that showed my support for GBS, but never knew the best way. That was, until I was introduced to Keep Collective jewelry.

In January 2017, I was invited to a Keep Collective jewelry party at a friend’s home. As guests were trying on various pieces of jewelry and brainstorming custom creations, I had narrowed down the type of jewelry to a bracelet. Since the bracelet price was more than what I typically pay for an accessory, my goal was for it to be meaningful. A guest had mentioned incorporating my son, Levi’s, December birthstone into the design, but while I was mixing and matching, I started thinking about the three colors associated with GBS; blue, pink and white. I explained my idea to the sales associate who helped me select the pastel charms with the reversible black/brown leather band. It was perfect!

Amrita Lal-Paterson is the laboratory manager for a forensic DNA laboratory. She has spent most of her life studying the sciences. Until the death of her daughter, however, she had never heard about how harmful group B strep could be.

Amrita and her husband Geoff met in New Orleans, LA; the inspiration for their daughter's name, “Nola”. After dating for several years they decided to get married and move to Philadelphia in order to be closer to family when they had children of their own. In 2007, Amrita became pregnant with their first child.

“I had a very healthy pregnancy. I was doing yoga at 38 weeks,” Amrita said. “We felt as though we had everything ready for our baby.” At 5 days past the baby’s due date, Amrita went to the hospital where she received a digital exam.

“That exam was very painful. Afterwards, I felt off. I couldn't describe it but I didn’t feel right,” Amrita said. Her blood pressure was high during the exam so they sent her to L & D to be monitored. “My blood pressure came down, they took blood and everything seemed okay, so I was sent home. The one thing I do remember is that I had bad back pain almost instantly after the digital exam.”

That night, Amrita awoke with severe back pain which, never having a baby before, she thought was labor. After a long delivery, Amrita found herself confused and helpless in the midst of a chaotic delivery room. After an emergency c-section and a failed attempt to stabilize Nola’s heartbeat, Amrita was put into a deep sleep so she would not have to be awake for what came next.

On Aug. 14, 2017, Laura Oakley, became a grandma. During her pregnancy, Leo’s mother received regular prenatal care and had what would seem like a normal pregnancy. She even tested negative for Group B Strep during her check-ups. To everyone’s delight Leonidas Nehemiah Oakley, or as Laura affectionately calls him, her “angel baby,” was born perfectly healthy.
 
However, when Leo was 17 days old he became lethargic and refused to eat. Leo’s parents took him to the hospital where he was immediately diagnosed with and treated for meningitis, sepsis and late-onset Group B Strep. The damage to Leo’s brain was too severe and on Sept. 23, 2017 he was removed from life support at just 6 weeks old.

A common practice among obstetricians and midwives is what is known as “membrane stripping” or “membrane sweeping.” When a pregnant woman is close to or past her baby’s due date, some obstetricians and midwives will forcibly separate the fetal membranes (“bag of waters”) from the uterine lining in hopes of inducing labor. This is sometimes done without the patient’s consent during the course of a cervical exam and without discussing any potential risk of infection prior to the procedure.
 
When Lynn Carmean was pregnant with her first child, her doctor made the decision to sweep her membranes as she was past her due date. Up until this point, Lynn had what she describes as an “uneventful” pregnancy. Her and her husband, Kyle decided to keep their baby’s gender a surprise. She was tested for GBS during the pregnancy and the results were negative. She even had fetal nonstress tests and ultrasounds to check on the baby once she was past the due date. All was well.
 
After having her membranes swept, Lynn went into labor within 24 hours. She had decided to have a natural water birth and her midwife monitored her heart throughout labor. At some point during the process, Lynn’s midwife left and returned with nurses and doctors. “ … the whole vibe of the calm environment I was birthing in had changed,” she said.
 
Soon after the arrival of the doctors, Philomena “Mena” Rose Carmean, Lynn and Kyle’s baby girl was born. But the doctors immediately began working to revive Philomena as she was non-responsive. The doctors failed to revive her.  
 
“As we were left crushed, devastated with empty arms missing our baby girl, all we could do was wonder ‘why’?,” Lynn said.
 
The Carmeans immediately wanted answers. What had happened to their daughter? After receiving an autopsy report and a placental exam, the couple was told that, “ … one of the factors that were identified as the cause of death was that Mena had sepsis, with group B strep detected in her body,” Lynn said.