Harvey's story   — Amanda Wiggins , FL, USA

My little nephew Harvey is in the NICU as I type this. He was born at home 2 weeks overdue. His mother's water broke at 12 am and she did not deliver him till 3 pm the next day. It was a traumatic birth and he had swallowed fecal matter. She was told that if she had been in the hospital, she would have had a C-Section. There were midwives there and he was tested for everything and it was negative. Two weeks later he was rushed to the ER with a fever of 103. They broke the fever and were told they would hold him for a 72 hour watch. I got a call at 4am Friday night to tell me he was in NICU and that the family needed to get there asap because they did not know if he would make it through the night. I cried and cried not understanding what was happening. I had just met him the weekend before and he seemed like a healthy, loving, perfect baby. Little did we know he had GBS and his little body was a time bomb. My husband and I rushed to see him yesterday. We could only go in one at a time. I did not know what I was about to see. He had tubes all over him and was in an induced sleep. At this point we still did not know why. I cried and told him how much I loved him and that his name means "battle ready", and this was his fight. He is still in NICU and everything is touch and go. We have high hopes he will pull through, but now also know what he may have to deal with in the long term. My heart feels broken because was this something that could have been prevented if the midwife had made the right choice and said, "we must go to the hospital" or even had the mother and baby go to the hospital after the birth due to the complications. I'm sure my sister-in-law feels guilt but she is not a doctor. She put her trust in people who KNOW what they are doing. None of this is her fault but now her baby's life is at risk and it is all just so heart-breaking. Please pray for little Harvey, that he will pull through this and live the life he has not even had a chance to see yet.