Group B Strep Support Thread

[MindUtopia]

One of my doula friends just shared this with me. It's from 2011 so it might be something you've all seen before, but it does have some great tips for preventing GBS and a link to a great Cochrane review piece on GBS and antibiotics at the bottom.

https://www.glorialemay.com/blog/?p=615

 

[ticking.clock]

I tested positive for GBS and will be taking no chances, as my friends son died from picking up GBS as he was born.

 

[JaneSharon86]

Hi all

I have a thread in the third tri forum, but have been kindly pointed to this one.

Following a bleed and a swab a few weeks back, I received a letter telling me I was GBS +. I'd never even heard of this before - its not even something that is covered in the UK Green Maternity NHS notes, though everything else seems to be. I wasn't informed that I was being swabbed for this either, so came as a real shock when the letter arrived.

I def want a homebirth and have a real phobia of hospitals. I am convinced that the stress I'll feel in hospital will be deterimental to the baby and will effect how well my labour progresses. Yet at home I feel completely confident in my body and have no fear of childbirth this way.

I am seeing my midwife on Thursday so will discuss the options then. When i first received the letter I called the two local hospitals and the Midwife Led Unit to see what policy was. One hospital said IV hospital birth only on a consultant led ward, the MLU said I was no longer suitable for them as they did not have IV facilities (?!) but the final hospital said that there are always options and everything is open to discussion, but they would not let me get into a birthing pool with an IV in. They also said that I would be offered a retest closer to my delivery date which could change things.

I'm so torn. The more research and reading I do the more confused I get. I know the risks from both sides and still feel that a homebirth is the way to go. However it just takes one person to give me that whole 'you're safest in a hospital' speech and that 'future-bad-mother' look to make me doubt my decision again.

Home birth vs hospital birth I can argue confidently my point of view for hours, but since this little issue has been thrown into the mix I'm starting to doubt myself.

My preference would be IV administered at home and i don't see why this couldn't be an option as district nurses do this everyday; however both hospitals said that the midwives will most likely refuse to do this. The other option is going into hospital for the IV, then leaving for home; but the hospital again said that they wouldn't let me go home and that it would need topping up every 4 hours.

So confused. Hoping my appointment with the midwife (who I don't particularly like or rate, she's been very non-supportive so far) goes well and provides some answers.

 

[PommyMommy]

Hi everyone!

I have tested positive for GBS and had to research it myself due to little info from my OB/GYN (IV of penicillin during labor). My goal was to avoid having an IV inserted at all at the hospital and to have complete control over everything that happens, HA. My main question right now is-- an IV of penicillin is just penicillin right? Or is it mixed with fluids? Do I have the option to not have other fluids administered and how can I ensure they don't slip me anything unwanted (Pitocin)? This is my first baby and I've long been afraid of hospitals but the home birth/birth center is just out of the question because of our situation at home and our insurance.

 

[dan-o]

I had an ab drip with my son, after being told by my community midwife that they no longer do this routinely unless you test positive during the actual pregnancy lol.
It was a bag of fluid and antibiotics, took about 20-30 mins but I didn't really take much notice as my contractions were in full swing at the time!

I was told again this pregnancy that I won't be getting AB's in labour, but if I have a hospital delivery, I bet I do lol!

 

[PeanutBean]

Hi everyone. Nice to see this thread continues to be helpful here and there. With my 4 year old and 18 month old have approximately no time at all to go on BnB. If anyone wants to take over admin of the thread that would be ok. In the mean time if anyone wanted any specific support PM me and I'll get an email and can look into it for you.

For some reason I don't seem to be allowed to edit the first post, perhaps becaus I've no posted in a billion years, but I will do so as soon as I can to show this message there.

It's always worth reading the thread to get the detail.

 

[ticking.clock]

I got letter today saying I still test positive for GBS, first positive test was at 16 weeks and it hasn't gone since, I've now been told baby will be in special care for 48 hours???

 

[TaraMum]

Special care? That seems extreme, to take your baby away from you when she might not even have it. I asked if my baby would be monitored for the minimum 48 hours at my bedside and the midwife said she would, so I see no reason for your LO to be monitored in special care. The first 48 hours are so important for bonding.

 

[A_K_and_K]

Hi ladies

Just wanted to stop in and say that I was GBS +, and after going into labour, went to the hospital around 10:30 a.m. on November 12th. At 2 pm they administered the first round of antibiotics, but I gave birth at 3:41 p.m., so that dose never even had time to get through me.

The NICU did some initial bloodwork and monitoring, but my boyfriend stayed with her, and she was brougth back to our room. The next day they contacted us in the morning and had us bring her to the NICU. Her bloodwork came back and she was clearly fighting an infection.

We had to have her in the NICU for 48 hours getting antibiotics. It was such a hard time but after the first day she was feeling a lot better. My poor girl

Very scary, especially when you read all the stats about how unlikely it is for baby to contract it.

 

[TaraMum]

Hey, thank you for sharing that I see that you had a 15 hour labour but you weren't given AB's til over 13 hours in? And you didn't go to hospital until 10.30? So you'd been labouring for 10+ hours already. In the UK if you're GBS+ you're advised to go straight into hospital at the very first signs of labour so that the AB's can be given immediately. Did you spend most of your labour at home, then?

Glad your baby girl is well and happy now

 

[Inoue]

Sorry to hear people have had bad experiences with gbs. Im also gbs + and like the last poster said, in the UK we go in asap, preferably 8h before so we get two doses of AB in before the pushing part. As for internals, sometimes you may need one. I had a bleed on Tue and was internally checked (doctor knew I was gbs+), all fine with me and baby, just cervix dilating. Im booked in for sweep on Tuesday which again has been all ok'd be doctors/mw and consultants x

 

[A_K_and_K]

Hey, thank you for sharing that I see that you had a 15 hour labour but you weren't given AB's til over 13 hours in? And you didn't go to hospital until 10.30? So you'd been labouring for 10+ hours already. In the UK if you're GBS+ you're advised to go straight into hospital at the very first signs of labour so that the AB's can be given immediately. Did you spend most of your labour at home, then?

Glad your baby girl is well and happy now

Hey there!

Our OB advised us to use the 5-1-1 rule on when to come to the hospital (contractions 5 mins apart lasting for 1 minute for about an hour), but to be honest, when I went into labour around 11 30 the previous night, I didn't actually realize it was labour until about 6 a.m. Then we were trying to time them, and when we decided we should head to the hospital soon, we had to wait for our farm-sitter to get here (an hour), and then pack up and it took 45 mins to get to the hospital...

I do not know why they didn't give them right away when I got there. I even asked why they hadn't but they seemed to think I would have a really long labour.

 

[ellahopesky]

im planning a homebirth after testing positive for group b strep via vaginal swab at 31 weeks and weighing up the pros/cons i have decided to decline the antibiotics as i have no other risk factors. anyone else not had the antibiotics and got any positive stories to share? all people seem to want to share are the scare stories. x

 

[Annamumof2]

I'm GBS+ and I've been told because of me being a fast labour both me and little one will be having antibiotics I was wondering do they give the baby antibiotics though a drip or some other way? I know will be having it by IV drip but was curious to little one

 

[Sky13]

Hi everyone,
I guess I posted my gbs + in the wrong section. Well in a nutshell I tested positive and am so scared/nervous. This is my first baby and I don't want anything to happen to him or myself. I read every post on here and there hasn't been too many people talking about planned c-sections. I am seriously thinking about getting one to hopefully avoid my baby coming into contact with gbs. I spoke to one of my ob's last week and she was very against it and said I should do more research. So I went home and that's what I did. I went to webmd, as she told me to do. I come across this first video about a mother getting antibiotics and her son still came in contact with the gbs and he flatlined 2 times. He is now 8+ and has vision and developmental problems. So now this has me even more stressed out! :-/. I am going to speak with another ob at the office and get her opinion. I guess my question is, what do you think about a planned c-section due to fear of gbs??

 

[Annamumof2]

Hi everyone,
I guess I posted my gbs + in the wrong section. Well in a nutshell I tested positive and am so scared/nervous. This is my first baby and I don't want anything to happen to him or myself. I read every post on here and there hasn't been too many people talking about planned c-sections. I am seriously thinking about getting one to hopefully avoid my baby coming into contact with gbs. I spoke to one of my ob's last week and she was very against it and said I should do more research. So I went home and that's what I did. I went to webmd, as she told me to do. I come across this first video about a mother getting antibiotics and her son still came in contact with the gbs and he flatlined 2 times. He is now 8+ and has vision and developmental problems. So now this has me even more stressed out! :-/. I am going to speak with another ob at the office and get her opinion. I guess my question is, what do you think about a planned c-section due to fear of gbs??

I'm having a normal vag birth and my baby will still get antibiotics because I'm a fast labour... I've read that you need at leat 4hr dose of it and they will keep an eye on little one for 24hrs

 

[Sky13]

Thanks for the reply. I understand they watch over the baby for 24hrs but what if he has late symptoms? I am just a nervous wreck these days

 

[Beckzter]

Hey everyone.

I paid to have a GBS test done as we don't routinely get them in the UK because my mum had it which passed onto one of my sisters when she was born and she was very poorly and lucky to be alive today with no serious effects. So got my results back and I'm positive.

Got an appointment to see consultant at hospital on Friday to discuss, been researching and I'm really unsure whether to accept antibiotics or not, want to give birth in hospital but be as active as possible and unsure if the fact I was positive at 37 weeks with my family history is enough to accept the IV.

Any advice in advance of my appointment would be appreciated.

 

[Annamumof2]

Thanks for the reply. I understand they watch over the baby for 24hrs but what if he has late symptoms? I am just a nervous wreck these days

From what I've been told if thy get the antibiotics in them they won't get it

 

[Annamumof2]

Hey everyone.

I paid to have a GBS test done as we don't routinely get them in the UK because my mum had it which passed onto one of my sisters when she was born and she was very poorly and lucky to be alive today with no serious effects. So got my results back and I'm positive.

Got an appointment to see consultant at hospital on Friday to discuss, been researching and I'm really unsure whether to accept antibiotics or not, want to give birth in hospital but be as active as possible and unsure if the fact I was positive at 37 weeks with my family history is enough to accept the IV.

Any advice in advance of my appointment would be appreciated.

I was on a hormone drip and I was active in labour and while I'm having both antibiotics and hormones I'll still be active