In the summer of 1975 I was eagerly awaiting the birth of our first child, due at the end of November.

Then, three months before term, I became ill with a high fever and severe back pains. At the hospital emergency room, I was diagnosed with "the flu" and sent home to take aspirin and recuperate. I recovered, but my unborn baby stopped kicking, despite belated antibiotic treatment. On September 11, 1975, our son, Edward, was born extremely prematurely and nearly dead from listeriosis.

He survived with severe multiple handicaps: mental retardation, cerebral palsy, hydrocephalus, near blindness, autism, and more. Three decades later we still care for him at home.

We are currently back from a month at the University of California Medical Center where Edward required emergency surgery for multiple small bowel obstructions caused by adhesions to adhesions. The adhesions (scar tissue) were caused by previous shunt surgery for hydrocephalus, secondary to listeria-induced prematurity and septicemia.

I am outraged that steps to curb the spread of listeria through our food supply, proposed by President Clinton, have been rendered ineffective by the current administration. I would like to do everything in my power to prevent this serious illness from threatening another child or another family.

Written by Helen Harrison

Author, The Premature Baby Book, St. Martin's Press, 1983 (2nd edition in progress)
Author, The Principles for Family-Centered Neonatal Care - Pediatrics, 1993;92:643-50.
Moderator of NAROF.ORG (Neonatology and the Rights of Families)