Strep B test?

[Warley]

Hi ladies

Just wondering if anyone has had the test for strep B? Have just been reading about it, apparantly it's a bacteria that can live in your bith canal (foof!) and it can be really bad if your baby picks it up.

My MW has never mentioned it to me! So anyone that has the test, how did you get it, did yopu beg and plead with the MW?

X

 

[Kimbo]

i asked my midwife earlier on and she said they will only test for it if you are showing any signs of having the infection.
you're from blackburn too so i guess it would be the same for you

 

[Warley]

Hi Kimbo

Blackpool really but I guess it's all Lancashire county council/trust?

What are the symptoms?

X

 

[Kimbo]

oh sorry i thought i read somewhere you were from blackburn.
im not sure what the symptoms are but im sure midwifes will know if you're showing signs xx

 

[muppetmummy]

I was going to have the test but when I asked my midwife about it she said that there was a very high chance that I'd test positive for group B strep since a high proportion of the population have it, but a very low chance I'd pass it onto the baby. She said it was normally passed on if there were other risk factors involved, like your waters being broken for a long time.
Once you know you have it you have to give birth in hospital attached to an IV drip of antibiotics, and stay in for several days after while baby gets tested, though the chances are you wouldn't have passed it on to baby anyway.
After taking to her I decided to give the test a miss.

 

[DebbieM]

I asked about it at ante natal and the MW basically said it was a waste of time unless you were showing symptoms. I was going to do it but I don't know now. I don't have symptoms so... ?

 

[littlepip]

I didnt even know anything about it till last week and they did a swab for some other reason and mum said about it then. i think its bad really that they arent routine because if you do pass it onto the baby then they can get menengitis (spelling!?) so for the sake of doing a swab i think its worth it

 

[sunnyday]

I asked my MW about it and she said the same as others, unless they have reason to think you're infected then they don't routinely test. If your waters break early or if you're prone to infection then they would test. She mentioned that I could be tested today and be negative, then contract it tomorrow and be positive, and I wouldn't be any the wiser.

I've decided not to bother with the test now, although I did hear at my antenatal group that our hospital swabs everyone now as soon as they are admitted, although I'm not sure if this is true.

 

[Charlie:-)]

Ive been doing loads of research on GBS cause it was picked up at 10+3 when I had a swab done at the docs as I thought I had thrush.

Check out this website http://www.gbss.org.uk/ this is where I got most of my info from. I have also called the helpline and spoke with someone direct because the info I keep getting from my midwife and my consultant at the hospital completely contradicts the info from this website.

Basically what I have been told is that the NHS arent very informed about the condition and when someone tests + for GBS the NHS are giving unnecessary advice and medication to women and babies.

My consultant and midwife are recommending I have IV antibiotics from the moment my waters break throughout labour because I had a + test result but from the research I have done I could take another test at 35-37 weeks and if this comes back negative then IV antibiotics are unnecessary. Also the hospital have said that baby will have swabs taken from the bellybutton, nose & ears and will also need to be on IV antibiotics for 2 days after birth (because the infection may have passed to the baby) until the swab results come back. If baby has GBS then it will have to remain on antibiotics for a further 3 days. In reality the baby will only have to have antibiotics if I dont receive 4 hours worth of antibiotics before the baby is born and any swab taken from the bellybutton, ears & nose will show the baby has GBS if I test + for it because the baby has travelled down the birth canal where the GBS colonises. The only way to tell if the baby has GBS is to do a blood test rather than swabs.

If you are thinking about having a test done the test the NHS does isnt very reliable, it is if you test + but if you receive a negative test result then about 50% of those are false negatives (meaning that around 50% of the people who test negative actually are +). you can pay around £32 for a ECM test which is the most reliable test you can buy.

Anyway sorry to have bored you all with my own trauma with the NHS and my GBS if anyone wants to PM me about GBS then please do so because not everything is as your midwife and hospital tell you.

I wish Id never had a swab taken for thrush and should have just let my doc prescribe something then I wouldnt be in this predicament.

 

[muppetmummy]

That sounds like an awful situation to be in Charlie, I hope everything works out ok for you

It's hard to know what to do for the best when different people tell you different things. Maybe it is better just not to have the test seeing as the NHS don't know what to do if you do get a positive

 

[Charlie:-)]

That sounds like an awful situation to be in Charlie, I hope everything works out ok for you

It's hard to know what to do for the best when different people tell you different things. Maybe it is better just not to have the test seeing as the NHS don't know what to do if you do get a positive

Thanks Muppetmummy, I really do wish it had never been picked up, there are 1000's of women who give birth without even knowing they have GBS and it doesn't pass to their child, but then again GBS is the biggest killer in newborn babies.

I'm definitely going to test again and if its + then I will have the antibiotics but put my foot down and insist my baby doesn't receive them (unless I didn't manage to get 4 hours worth). If the test comes back negative then I'm not going to have the antibiotics and hopefully I will be able to have my home water birth, that just means convincing my husband that not having the antibiotics is the best thing because theres still a 4% chance that after a negative result at 35-37 weeks I could still get GBS by the time I give birth.