A KILWINNING gran who lost her granddaughter to Strep B is “delighted” that all pregnant women will be issued with a leaflet warning them about the fatal infection.

Jackie Watt has been fighting to introduce routine testing for the potentially fatal Streptoccoccus B after her granddaughter Lola Young died at just 20-days old after contracting the infection in 2013.

Since then Jackie has campaigned tirelessly for changes to be made in Scotland to stop other healthy babies dying needlessly.

Group B Strep is the UK’s most common cause of life threatening infection in newborn babies but recent surveys have shown that many pregnant women feel inadequately informed about the illness.

On average two babies a day develop the infection, with one a week dying and one a week being left with lifechanging disability.

This week the gran-of-two says news that all expectant mothers will be given a new patient leaflet to warn of the dangers of the deadly virus, is “a step in the right direction”.

She told the Times: “I was delighted when I heard the news.

“Obviously it falls short of what I have been campaigning for, which is all mothers to be tested for strep B whilst they’re pregnant, which is, I believe the only way to prevent babies dying needlessly.

“But the leaflets are definitely a step in the right direction.

“Hopefully this new leaflet will raise awareness and offer people more information on how to get tested and what to look out for.”

“Lola would have started school this year so that was a hard thing for us to get over, because she will never have that experience. Christmas is always a hard time for us too.

“They say it gets easier but it doesn’t. You just get better at coping with it.

“It’s just so sad to think what Lola would have been like, what she would have wanted from Santa, how excited she’d be.

“But we don’t have her here with us, all because of something that would have cost the NHS a couple of pounds.

“And that is very hard to cope with.”

In 2015, despite raising thousands of signatures through a petition, Jackie was told the Scottish Parliament will not be taking any action until the UK National Screening Committee carries out a review and makes a decision on what to do on routine testing for pregnant women.

Despite the knock back she continues to campaign for a change in the law.