Group B Strep - Second time round

[NattyThomasAndEllen]

this is a long one but please bare with me!

i had GBS with my daughter, and had antibiotics in labour.
when i was pregnant i requested early induction (38 or 39 weeks) so that i could be sure to get the anitbiotics within the 4 hour minimum time slot, as very fast second births are very common in my family. this was refused as my first labour was 17 hours, and they said my labour would be at least 6 this time.

lo and behold when i went into labour i went from 2cm to 10 in 25 mins and had a 3 hour 40 min labour from start to finish.
as my daughter did not get the anitibotics in time, i had to allow them to give her tops ups every 4 hours for 3 days requiring me to stay in the hospital and for her to have a canula thingy in her hand.

i found the whole thing really upsetting because she could have got very sick, and could have been avoided if they listened to me and induced me early.

i am now pregnant again. and worried it is going to be worse this time, my mum gave birth to her third in the car! in which case baby will have no protection at all, and could be born with breathing difficulties and worse case might even die.

any one been though this and sucessfully got their induction? or any helpful tips on how to present my case better this time? i really cannot go into labour spontaniously this time i just cant.

the consultant last time seemed to think it was cos i was fed up and wanted the baby out, which was not the case because i would much prefer a homebirth!!

[Dragonbutter]

I think your consultant is likely to listen this time.

DS1 was born with GBS pneumonia and nearly died. I was terrified during my 2nd pregnancy but for other reasons ended up with a planned c-section.
Talk it over with your MW and consultant. i'm sure you'll come up with a plan.
Good luck.

[NattyThomasAndEllen]

thanks dragonbutter, i really hope so this time, its keeping me up all night! ive been having bad dreams about it too

[Dragonbutter]

oh i know, the worry is dreadful.
i spend 8.5 months worrying about whether i would get ABs in time for the consultant to decide i need a c-section for other reasons.

if it helps, the statistics are in your favour. and also the fact that you know you are GBS+ is great too.

i'm sure the consultant will come up with a plan that you'll be happy with. can you arrange an early consultant appointment around 12 weeks. i found that reassuring.

[NattyThomasAndEllen]

i spent most of the last few months worrying last time, cos of my family history, but the doctors assured me labours are not a gene thing, that u cant pass it down. awfully funny tho that 4 generations of woman on my mums side had 15 hour + labours first time round and less than 4 hours labour second time round. but i dont know anything.. im just a pregnant woman right

[Dragonbutter]

also what about getting tested in the run up to your due date. if it's -ve it might just help you relax if labour does start.

[NattyThomasAndEllen]

yeah last time they tested at 20 weeks gave me anitbiotics and didnt test me again surely my daughter not being sick could be down to the fact i had cleared the infection from my system?

[Dragonbutter]

have you checked out the GBS website?
they give the details about efficacy of testing.

[NattyThomasAndEllen]

they said if i didnt she would die, as i hadn't had the anitbiotics in time.
at the time it seemed important, but looking back now, she probally didnt even need them, as 3 hours is long enough, she presented no symptoms at all in the 3 hours i had her before they put the first dose in

[slinkiemalinki]

Wish I was as brave as you Leonie - Natty they are scaremongering. It is nonsense to say "she would die", up to 40% of mothers are GBS+ and only a tiny percentage of babies are infected and are ill because of it.
My DD had ABs as my waters broke early (even though GBS test was subsequently -ve), her immune system seems fine so far (she is 2.3) but they really do not present it as a choice at all so I can understand how Natty feels.
I am waiting for the results of my GBS test this time round and, if +ve, while I will accept ABs myself I doubt there will be enough time - I would like to argue against my baby having them this time. But my husband is very cautious and prefers to take the advice of the doctors and does not believe that unnecessary ABs are bad for you - and as DD is fit as a fiddle so far that doesn't help my argument!
I am inherently uncomfortable with it all but I don't think I would want an early induction for these reasons personally given the chances of GBS infection are pretty slight. It is a difficult one to call though.

[NattyThomasAndEllen]

leonie what part of the country are you in?
i think we are both on another thread about biting how funny!
how pregnant are you? i will keep my eyes peeled for ur birth announcement, some comfort to me if all goes well.#

also where can i go to get private swabs done? i think i will do one at 37 weeks, just to be sure, because if i dont have GBS i can have my much wanted home birth!

[bethoo]

i was induced due to GBS and becaue the labour was so fast i only had one dose of the IV as they do two at two hourly intervals. i stayed in hosp for two nights so he would be observed.
i will be having IV again this time as they have it in my notes that i am a carrier (as is 30% of women).
as long as they are aware and make sure that they know you have a quick labour i am sure yo will be fine.
though they will not induce you on that alone as induction makes labour even faster i believe.

[slinkiemalinki]

Good luck Leonie and Natty. Got a text today saying my result was negative this time too so big relief here. Wishing you similar luck.
It is so annoying that as well as being GBS aware you have to navigate the hospital's dubious AB policies which just don't seem to make sense and vary from place to place! I hear some hospitals are now saying "once positive always positive" even if you test neg this time round - I just don't get it.
Hope you get your HBs.

[NattyThomasAndEllen]

bethoo, to my knowledge inductions make labours harder and longer.
the purpose of being induced is that they give u the antibiotics b4 they give u the labour inducing drug, so that u have had one dose in plenty of time. so i dont know whyu they didnt do that for you

what i dont understand about this whole this is why oral antibiotics for 2 weeks prior to the birth wouldnt do the same job?
anyone wanna explain to me why it HAS to be iv AB instead?

[JellySnakes]

I am so shocked that you were told your baby would die without the antibiotics. That is disgraceful.

My ds was infected at birth (I didn't know I was a carrier), and ended up in the neonatal unit for 11 days on IV antibiotics. He was very sick, but thankfully made a full recovery and is now an extremely healthy 5 year old!

When I had dd I was going to get the antibiotics in labour but the delivery was too quick so she ended up with IV antibiotics and a 3 day admission for us both. I was advised that this was the best thing to do, but that was because of my previous baby actually being infected. Her blood results came back as negative after a few days which was a relief, but as hard as those days were, I would do the same thing again.

Have a good chat with your midwife about it. I struggled to get antibiotics in labour, mainly due to some staff knowing very little about GBS, and so went armed with lots of info which I got from the GBSS website. It was this that convinced them to treat me. I think you just need to get as much information as you can so that you are well prepared when they may argue against you iykwim. I found it surprising that there were so many who commented that I was making too much out of it, and I did get the impression at times that they thought I was just yet another neurotic pregnant woman.

[JellySnakes]

Meant to say good luck too

[Sawyer64]

I have been GBS +ve for my 2nd and 3rd prgnancy (possibly the first but that was before they seemed to know about this...)

I had quite a few courses of Antibiotics prior to my EDD,as the policy in 2003/2004 was to "treat" it everytime they "find" it.But it always returns after.

With DD2 in 2006 they werent so worried,policy was not to treat GBS before Delivery.

I went on the GBS website and requested my swab pack,and it was positive again.So at least I knew it was definitely necessary for me to have the AB's (no other test is reliable)

With DD1 I had only one lot of AB's but was told that it was a double dose,this was given at 11.30pm,and I had DD1 at 1.13am.

After each delivery (DD2 was C-sect.) My DD's were monitored for 48 hrs by MW for any signs of infection.