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Faith in healers

"What's an infection, Daddy?" Harry interrupted the bed time story. "How do you get an infection, Daddy?"

No prizes for guessing what was on his mind, but satisfied with my answers, he tucked himself back down again.

They're questions he has asked time and time again, and I always explain them as …

What are the symptoms of childbed fever?

… strike down any new mother, irrespective of age, fitness or health.

Fever is an obvious sign of infection, but not everyone who develops septicaemia has a temperature, so it is important to look at all of the symptoms as a whole.

If you have two or more of these symptoms, especially if they are getting worse, or if you are in any doubt, please call your GP or midwife, or go to hospital …

Who is Jessica?

… Jessica Palmer had an easy labour and a healthy child. Five days later she died from a treatable infection. Her husband Ben talks to Sally Williams about anger, guilt and life alone with two children

The Guardian, Saturday 7 June 2008

Friday's Child was written by Jessica's husband, Ben. It tells the full heart breaking story of a mother's love and a family's loss. Friday's Child was …

What is childbed fever?

What are the symptoms? »

Childbed fever: the facts »

Childbed fever is an infection of the womb in new mothers which can lead to septicaemia.

Historically, childbed fever (puerperal sepsis) was the leading cause of maternal death in the UK but, due in part to antibiotics, cases have declined significantly since the 1930s and the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and …

Death by any other name

… A Strep when it takes a hold. It is a nasty and highly toxic organism and unless the symptoms of infection are caught early enough, death is a very real outcome.

Whatever the cause, infection in mothers should ring alarm bells, and the trigger should be any sign of fever or general feeling of unwell. Do not put a feverish temperature down to mother's milk coming in unless you are certain it …

Your say

… for doing such important work. It will make a difference." LA

"I too had a Group A Strep infection in the uterus after the birth of my second baby. It was only by citing Jessica's death that I was "allowed" to come in and get started on necessary intravenous antibiotics." KG

"Through tears I have passed this on to everyone I know. Good luck with it." JS

"This horrible disease …

It could be you

… it learned? Have we as parents learned?

There really is no reason at all for women to die from infection after childbirth. It can stop and I hope it will stop, but first we have to accept that it is happening. Jessica's story is not just a sad tale worth a moment's attention and maybe a brief tear, it is an opportunity to reflect and to drag ourselves out of the dark ages.

Universally, the …