I had lunch yesterday with Dr Gwyneth Lewis, Director of the Maternal Deaths Enquiry for CEMACH. I spoke immediately after her at the conference in Birmingham a few weeks ago, and we had agreed to meet up in the near future.

It was a good opportunity to catch up with what I am doing through Jessica's Trust, and where she wants to go with maternal health, globally as well as domestically.

Incidentally, CEMACH have also been in touch to ask me to speak again, in the new year, at one of their regional conferences. It's fantastic to begin to properly understand how much Jessica's story does really help, and after my nerves of last time I'm much happier to say Yes.

Gwyneth asked me what more I still wanted to achieve by campaigning. 'Raising awareness of childbed fever' is accurate and all well and good, but it is a bit vague other than as a strap-line. If I go and speak to parliamentarians, committees and Royal Colleges it's not precise enough. I know what I want, it's probably dotted around in the pages of this website, but I have now turned it into a 1-2-3 wishlist.

1. Every new mother to be handed a leaflet or card with information about childbed fever and its symptoms.

For example, our leaflet or a version of it. The Meningitis card handed out to new mothers is really effective and the simple information shown is widely known now. All parents and their families need to know about childbed fever.

2. Every woman to have regular observations recorded on a Modified Early Obstetric Warning System (MEOWS) chart - in hospital and at home.

It's really encouraging to hear that more and more hospitals are getting around to implementing them, but they should be in use nationally. Mandatorily and now.

3. Every doctor and midwife to have a clear sepsis guideline.

It is lamentable that such does not exist. I'm going to add our voice to those already calling for it.

We acknowledged that finding time to work on Jessica's Trust can be hard at times, but the passion is there, and the open line of communication with CEMACH just may give it the boost to go.

Modified Early Obstetric Warning Score charts are instantly clear and they can save a life. What are they, though?

They are a single sheet chart, with time tracked across the top, where observations - pulse, blood pressure, temperature and a whole host of others - can be marked in the columns below.

Normal readings: fine.
Borderline readings: the box is shaded in yellow.
Dangerous readings: the box is shaded red.

One red or two yellows at one time and a doctor is required for 'early intervention'.

It is so graphically obvious, and a mother's history so clearly charted that, the idea is, a mother who is developing a critical condition will be treated before it is too late.

Sepsis (for example) is often already life threatening by the time it is clinically obvious. Therefore the best opportunity to intervene is based on the early warnings.

These charts are not routinely used, though. Some units do use them, others are looking at using them, and I believe there may be a national pilot some time.

I filled in Jessica's observations on such a chart a while ago and it is so obvious. You can see that she was very ill, long before she was showing the more advanced symptoms of sepsis.

When I was in Birmingham the other day I showed the chart to the conference. A midwife came up to me after I had spoken and said that her hospital had had MEOWS on the agenda for a while but that no-one had yet got around to implementing them.

She told me she was on the panel and was going to go back to work to get them implemented. Now.

I want these charts to be used routinely, as in other disciplines, and they should follow a mum home to the community midwife as well. How else is she supposed to know her patient's full history so definitively?

You can see an example MEOWS chart here.

Inquiry into deaths of three new mothers - Telegraph

Necrotising Fasciitis is most commonly caused by Group A Streptococcus, which is also the most common cause of Childbed Fever. It's a pity the article doesn't make the link and say that's what it is, but 'flesh-eating bacteria' sounds nastier, doesn't it?