Group B Strep

[chinateacup]

I had a water birth with DS1 and the very same evening he was taken into neonatal care with a chest infection. I remember at the time being told it was either a) because he had breathed in some water in the pool (curious as his cord was still attached), or b) that because I went from 7cm to birth in about 90 mins he may not have been "squeezed" enough on the way out and would still have water on his lungs (a shadow showed when he was x-rayed). I am fairly certain that nobody ever mentioned the possibility of GBS at the time.

I am now planning for the birth of DS2 (MW led v hospital) and trying to rationalise things to decide. I wanted to know if it was "just one of those things," or if it was something that might happen again due to the way I laboured/ gave birth.

I asked my midwife to go through my previous notes to identify the cause as I was just so relieved DS recovered that I can't actually remember what they said the cause was. She has requested this for me. My regular midwife (who I do have confidence in) has never mentioned the chance of GBS but when I had a check up last week an asked for my notes it was with a locum and she actually suggested I should be tested at 37 weeks as that would be the most logical explanation as to why DS was poorly.

In the interim my question is this - I know they took so many bloods; would he have been tested for GBS as a neonate with chest infection as a matter of course?

[flibberdyjibbert]

There isn't a specific blood test for GBS or one to definitively find the cause of a chest infection. One of the tests that should have been done would have been a blood culture test which would look for evidence of bacteria (such as GBS) in his blood stream.

Generally, in newborns with any sort of suspected infection samples are also sent from the urine and fluid around the brain (from a lumbar puncture) & they are treated with broad spectrum antibiotics that would specifically include cover for GBS. It is pretty common (relatively speaking) for newborns who have suspected infection to be investigated & treated with antibiotics & make a very good recovery, without ever finding a positive test to identify the bug causing the problem.

It's unlikely that the way you laboured/gave birth caused his chest infection (the fluid isn't physically 'squeezed' out of the baby's lungs, the hormones released during labour cause the fluid to be reabsorbed back into the body). Some babies do have slightly 'wet' lungs when they're born & have temporary breathing problems, some babies are born with an infection (sometimes if there's infection around, that can be what precipitates the onset of labour). It sounds sensible to err on the side of caution & get checked out for GBS at 37 weeks, just in case, but even if you are a GBS carrier, that wouldn't necessarily mean that GBS caused your DS's chest infection IYSWIM, there are numerous other bugs that it could have been, & may well have just been one of those unfortunate things. Just to note that if you are GBS positive, you'll probably not be able to be in a midwife led unit, because they'll want to give you intravenous antibiotics during labour to reduce the risk of infection to the baby & that'll usually mean being on delivery suite.

[chinateacup]

Thankyou for taking the time to leave such a detailed answer. I daresay I will err and be tested and take it from there... Thanks again