Strep B

[chrystaltips]

I've heard people talking about it but I've never been tested and no-one even mentioned it at any of my appointments. When I asked the doc at about 35 weeks she said they would only test me if I was having symptoms How will I know if I have it? It's a bit late now, but would it be picked up if my baby had strep B after birth?

 

[Squiglet]

We get tested here as a matter of routine... But mine was done last week and were negative.

Strep b is present in almost 30% of the population... usually in the bowels and in the vagina.

Theres a definite chance that it can be passed to your baby during birth, but only a fraction of mothers will pass Strep b to the babies in the first place, and then only a small amount of babies that have contracted strep b actually develop any illnesses. The midwives at the hospital will keep an eye on your LO to make sure that there are no signs or symptoms of any strep like illnesses...

 

[muppetmummy]

I'm planning on talking to my midwife about this when I see her next week. I think the only way to be tested is generally by doing it privately (which costs about £30 sending a sample away in the post). The NHS won't test for it routinely.
I think if you or baby show signs after borth they treat it with antibiotics. I'm seriously considering getting the test done, for the sake of £30 I think it's worth it.

 

[DebbieM]

Not done here either unless you have symptoms. I asked about it last week when we were at Parentcraft.

 

[Kimbo]

Not done here either unless you have symptoms.

same here

 

[jodie_honey]

i have just done mine, i did it privateley and sent a cheque of £32 with it, i shud recieve the results in 3 working days. i decided to do it after i read some scary stories about babies contracting it so i thought it was well worth it xx

 

[fothers]

I thought about it but if you come back positive- which a large percent of the population will like squig said- it means that you need IV antibiotics during labour from what I can gather which then starts to infringe on what you can do in labour.

I am sure that you can't have a home birth and probably not a water birth either and it means you will be lugging a drip stand around after you if you try and keep mobile and active during the birth

 

[Magic Monkey]

I asked my midwife about this and she said that even if you test negative now, you could still get it before the baby is born (therefore not really worth it). She also said that the only time you are likely to pass it onto the baby is if your waters break a long time before the baby is born, in which case they will test then and give you/the baby antibiotics at that point.

 

[Christina1979]

what are the symptoms?

 

[muppetmummy]

I've heard about the possibility of becoming positive between the test and labour too. It's hard to know what to do