Group B strep question. Confused and a bit worried.

[QueenCee]

Im 13+5 and have been bleeding on and off in this PG. Ive had a few scans and all is fine with the baby. It may be from a low lying placenta they think.
Anyway, I went to hospital after some bleeding and they checked my cervix was closed, which it was and took a swab.
Theyve just called and said Ive got group B strep. They said they will notify my GP who will decide what to do. I was concerned this may threaten the PG but the nurse stated it can be a problem during labour. I asked her again if it threatened the PG now and she replied that its usually a problem in labour.
She never really answered my question and seemed to dodge giving a specific answer and told me to wait to hear from GP.
Ive tried calling MW who is on leave.
Ive called the GP who has not called back.
So I googled!! I know I shouldnt...but it said on there that this infection can cause m/c in rare cases.
Im now very worried.
Has anyone got experience of group B strep in early PG? Is it a problem and should I be ensuring this is dealt with immediately?
Any advice gratefully received!

[alisonsmum]

you will prob need antibiotics and the baby will too after the birth.....dont worry too much until u have seen your gp/ mw its treatable and nothing that u have done wrong

[ragged]

Something like 40% of women are GBS+ at some point in pregnancy (the infection can come and go), it is very very common and doesn't cause problems to the vast majority. Try not to google too much.

[MoonFaceMamaaaaargh]

also it comes and goes so testing is normally done at thirty something weeks...close to labour when it might be an issue. It may well have gone by then.

I've never heard of it causing mc (though am not an expert!). Causes of Mc's are very hard to pin down, so many women carry strep b at some point i'd be really suprised if they had managed to isolate it as a cause in some mc's when it clearly doesn't affect everyone that carries it. Sorry you've had such rubbish hcp support over this. Really hope everything is ok for you.

[MoonFaceMamaaaaargh]

btw when i say "testing is normally done" i mean if you arrange testing privately, it will be done at thirty something weeks..it isn't routinely tested for on the nhs (though i've heard of mw's arranging this for women. Also have heard that the test the nhs uses has a high false positive rate so try not to worry.)

[QueenCee]

Thank you all so much for your replies... I feel alot less worried and more informed from mn than did my own HCP's!!!

[moregranny]

Please look at //www.gbss.org.uk

[gleechie]

I was dx as a Strep B carrier after a swab was taken with my DD, they stuck a big red sticker on my maternity notes saying Group B strep Alert and that was all apart from some IV antibiotics during labour - i was induced but this was not directly down to the strep B, though i think they like early notice of labour so they can give you IV Antibiotics in early labour so the antibiotics have enough time to pass to baby. They did nothing with DD after she was born apart from the usual checks, DD is now nearly 7, was and still is completely healthy infact i think we had left hospital within 14 hours!!
Please don't worry. Good luck :)

[edwinbear]

I tested +ve for GB Strep with DS, although not until 37 weeks, but who knows how long it was there for before i tested. I'm now expecting DC2 in Nov and fully expect to test +ve again. It does come and go but I've never heard of it causing problems in pregnancy, certainly neither my private nor NHS midwife are at all concerned about my historic +ve test in relation to my current pregnancy. I'll be tested again at about 37 weeks and if it's positive again, I'll have IV antibiotics in labour, as I did with DS to minimise the risk of GB Step infection for the baby. It was no problem at all and I'm not at all concerned about testing +ve again.