We had a textbook pregnancy with no dramas. Kiera was born at 40 weeks and 6 days after an uneventful induction. It was all smooth sailing until about the last half hour of labour when I spiked a fever. When that happened, we were just told that we’d get the baby out as soon as possible and that we would need to use the vacuum and/or forceps.

After about 30 mins using both intervention methods, Kiera was born. She wriggled around as she was placed on my chest. It seemed as though she was trying to catch her breath. The doctors and nurses took her over to clean her up and give her some air. We were told she’d be brought up to the Special Care Unit to get some oxygen and then brought right back to us. We were told that sometimes babies just need a little help adjusting to life outside the womb. Over the next five hours, she continued to deteriorate and was not responding to any treatments or medications. Kiera died 5 hours and 10 mins after she was born.

A few days after Kiera died, we received the preliminary autopsy results – she was highly infected by GBS, likely before birth. We were shocked. I had tested negative. We were never told that GBS is transient, so the cause of death was and still shocks me today, almost 6 months later. Even though we had the best test done, I believe that there needs to be more options for women who test negative. More education on the fact that it comes and goes, that it could have extremely severe consequences.

In the days following Kiera’s death, we set up a GoFundMe to raise money for charity in lieu of flowers. We managed to raise over $33,000 in about 2 weeks and have donated to various causes and research projects including the Stillbirth Foundation.

We have now set up a fund called Kiera’s Contribution in the hopes to continue to raise money for awareness and education for GBS and newborn infections and well as support bereaved parents. www.kierascontribution.com  

Instagram: @dear.kiera