Group B Strep

[lisaspoon]

Hi Ladies...

Just asking your advice and if anyone has been in a similar position..

I went into the surgery today to pick up my prescription for Iron Tablets and was handed one for Penicillin as well!?
Needless to say I was confused as I had only been told about the iron one!
Anyway, long and short of it, the swab they took at triage (at the end of october) showed up Group B strep that was sensitive to penicillin and a number of other antibiotics..so hence the prescription (although nice to be told as it had been sitting there a week!)

Anyway, I've read before that Group B strep can be passed onto newborns during delivery....
I'm presuming after I've finished my course of ABs I will be tested again to check if it has gone...

If it has I presume all is ok...but if its not....will my delivery be managed differently etc?

Anyone had any similar experiences?

thanks ladies xxxx

 

[Urchin]

hiya

I was my friends birth partner recently and she has GBS.
They gave her anti-biotic injections during labour, for the baby.

One thing they were saying though.... GBS just doesn't go away... well, it does, but then it can come back the next day.
Either way you will have the jabs during labour and baby may have a test after birth but thats it.

Hope that helps.

 

[lisaspoon]

Thanks Urchin

my next MW appointment is not until 12th December, but I have antenatal class on tuesday so I may speak to the middy after that and ask whether they are going to want to swab me again after i've finished my course of ABs...
Like you said and from what I've said I dont think its something that goes away, so I'm a bit confused as to why they are giving me a course of ABs now, when it could be back by the time I go into labour and I'll prob have to have ABs then anyway!!

 

[purplebluered]

I had the antibiotics during labour as I got GBS in my wee at some point in pregnancy - though my line kinked so it didn't go through so when Isaac was born he had to go to the baby unit to have antibiotics - he had to go every 12 hours. He had to have blood cultures to make sure he didn't have it, so I wasn't allowed to be discharged home until he was all clear.

He was fine....if you have to have a drip (I did ask about injections but couldn't as it was to do with hospital policy ) just make sure you don't kink the line!! I kinked it by not keeping my wrist straight apparently - cos I was leaning onto the bed

Like you, I was confused. They never swabbed me and didn't send my wee off again to be retested...so now idea why I needed AB during pregnancy and in labour. Apparently it'll be the same again next time so might ask properly next time!

 

[Charlie:-)]

I tested postitive for GBS at 10 weeks like you I had a swab taken but for thrush and GBS showed up.

I did lots and lots of research into this because I really wanted a home birth or to go to the mid wife led unit, which with GBS is a no no. I would recommend you take a look at the GBS website http://www.gbss.org.uk

I was under consultant care at the hospital because of the GBS and I was getting very conflicting information from the consultant, my midwife and the GBS charity. In the end I called the charity and spoke to someone on their helpline who was really nice and gave me loads of info. Basically the NHS are not very informed on GBS and they have lots of things in place to try and prevent the infection passing to your baby, some of which is not actually necessary (wont go into detail here but feel free to PM me if you want more info on this), but the NHS are covering their backs. Everything I am about to quote comes from literature which you can download from the website and is factual information based upon their research. Once detected GBS can be present at birth but in some cases it may not be present particularly if found in early pregnancy. It is recommended to test for GBS during weeks 36-37, if found positive then it is likely that it will be present during birth if the test is negative then there is still a 4% chance that GBS will be present at birth.

The NHS dont offer a routine test for this so you will have to test yourself by ordering one from the website for £32.00 (my midwife did mine for me) and results are turned around within 4 days. This test is the most reliable one available it is a 2 swab test. Although the NHS dont offer a routine test they can test for GBS using a one swab test which isnt very reliable and gives out false positive results. This happened to me, my consultant tested me and it came back negative, then I took the 2 swab test and it came back positive. Im so glad I took the 2 swab test because I had decided not to take the antibiotics if I tested negative when all along this was a false positive and I could have been putting my baby at risk.

I did take the antibiotics in labour once through a drip attached to a cannula through my hand then they just topped me up every 6 hours by a syringe through the cannula. They also insisted that my baby have antibiotics every 12 hours even though I had received them throughout labour which is to prevent my baby getting the infection, and according to the GBS charity it isn't necessary for baby to have them also when the mother has had them for 4 hours prior to the baby being born, again NHS trying to cover their own backs. They gave them to Maia for 3 days till her bloods came back to confirm she had the all clear.

All I would recommend is that you do some research on the subject, speak to people and make your own informed decisions on what you want to do. You do not have to have antibiotics you are offered them but don't have to have them. There are 1000's of women who give birth every day who have GBS and it is unknown because they haven't been tested for it and then there are the small number of people who's babies are ill from the infection.

Feel free to PM me anytime if you need anymore info