To think Strep B tests should be offered to all pregnant women?

[plinkyplonks]

Hadn't even heard of Strep B if it hadn't been for Bumpfest.

My midwife says Strep B tests are not offered as standard on NHS!

Please, please, please consider signing this petition if you think this is a test that should be offered to all pregnant women:

epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/60515

This is a tough one.

My friend got tested privately and it was positive. She did research and found out that it can come and go. She had decided against the treatment, and wished she had never got tested.

Turned out the baby was born in minutes, 2 year old as midwife so there would never have been time, and the baby was fine.

As far as I know, its a common bacteria that can be there and disappear. That's a lot if tests, a lot of positives and a lot of unnecessary antibiotics.

However, I say that as a person who hasn't suffered the loss of a baby because of Group B Strep.

Agree. Signed.

The uk has an appalling record of stillbirths and it can't be coincidence that we also don't scan women past 20 weeks routinely or test for gbs.

One of the ladies in my local group lost her baby at term because of Strep B :( You're right it does come and go, so you can be positive at the start of the pregnancy and not at the end. Maybe the NHS could offer it as an option at week 37 beyond?

Signed! Currently 35 weeks pregnant and going to pay privately!

Yes that does sound like a better idea, at 37 weeks. My friend was much earlier than that when she was tested.

onthematleavecountdown - If it saves just one life it's got to be worth it. I'm so shocked that awareness that Strep B is so low - if I hadn't got the pack about it at Bumpfest, I would have been clueless. As it is, I am looking at getting the test done privately towards the end of my pregnancy :(

I signed. Is there any risk in giving anti-b's to newborns btw?

Does the UK really have an appalling record of stillbirths? Genuine question.

I had a strep b test on NHS (was very anxious and spend far too long googling everything that could possibly be dangerous during pregnancy).
I just asked my midwife for it.

I've already signed as this was linked by a friend of mine on FB as she tested positive and had the antibiotics with her last DC.

Such a simple routine test, it should be routine like Australia and USA.

It's done as standard on the NHS where I live - Sheffield. I thought it would be the same all over England.

SaucyJack - Not sure to be honest, maybe one of the more medically knowledgeable mumsnetters can help us out!

But 1 in 5 women have GBS the vast majority of babies are fine. All that extra worry, unnecessary monitoring and antibiotics for very little benefit. That's why scientifically the NHS won't do it, the evidence for screening is weak.

Xmasbaby11 - Unfortunately not. In Hampshire, I was told I would only be offered it if I had repeat episodes of thrush. According to the NHS website, thrush in pregnancy is normal - www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1101.aspx?CategoryID=54. I wouldn't have thought of raising as a point of concern to my midwife, so it would have never triggered a Strep B test!

I received lots of interesting pamphlets on breast feeding, flu vaccines - but nothing on Strep B.

It's not just a lack of test, it's a lack of consistency and information available to women :/

Signed it!

Sienna - sadly 1 in 200 babies in this country are stillborn.

Don't think I could possibly sign.
It depends how the results are used.
I don't want the American system where any positive test at any time in any pregnancy or ever, really, means you get slapped on 4 hours of IV antibiotics as a default (no support for any other style of birth, no other risk factors considered).
I've read too many horror stories. I'm afraid the test result will be misused.

I know a child who nearly died of StrepB, right after birth. He had at least one other risk factor.

I agree.

I nearly lost my first child due to GBS.

lljkk - Do you think women should at least have the choice whether they have the test or not?

I am very concerned about antibiotic resistance, which is increasingly becoming a reality. Due to the transient nature of strep b, many people would receive prophylactic antibiotics that were actually of no benefit. Emerging research queries the effect this could have on the baby in the future (there is a documentary called microbirth). Also, many people who would have benefitted from the treatment would not be detected, as many will have strep b present at the time of delivery, but not at the time of testing.

I have read wide on this issue and nothing that I have read has convinced me that routine testing would be beneficial.

this leaflet from the RCOG explains why routine screening is not offered. I would listen to thier advice it is not the best way to go.

Also someone mentioned scans - there is no evidence to suggest that increasing scans in pregnancy would prevent stillbirth. There is also no evidence to prove if scans are of benefit or harm - personally I preferred to keep them to a minimum in my pregnancies.

17 Still births EVERY SINGLE DAY in the uk. I believe it's amonst the worst in the "developed world". Far higher than SIDS. Far less research, far less information. GBS and more regular scans in late pregnancy are part of the picture.

MissDuke - www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29367001

It's not stillbirth that is prevented by GBS testing, but meningitis and sepsis in the first week of life that is caused by GBS.

I wonder if the foot dragging on routine screening is due to antipathy towards so-called medicalised birth in the UK? If GBS is identified anti-biotics have to be administered by IV during labour, and there seems to be a feeling that IVs, etc should only be put in if absolutely necessary in surgical situations, leaving women fee to walk around or deliver in pools, etc. You can't take ABs beforehand by mouth as the bacteria recolonise quickly.

In the US, CDC guidelines ask that women be tested between 35 and 37 weeks. All women who had a UTI during pregnancy or had a baby who tested positive for GBS previously should be given ABs during delivery, according to the CDC.

I think you should look at the wider picture here - if a third or so of women have this it's going to impact in a massive way on the kinds of interventions they have in labour if here all aware of their status. It's also going to impact massively on the number of babies given antibiotics as a prophylactic straight after birth.

I don't have stats in front of me but I don't think throwing antibiotics at a newborn is a good idea unless you have a very good reason.

There is a section of pregnant women more at risk who would benefit from this - especially if they've got PROM (prolonged rupture of membranes - waters breaking early allowing infection in) etc. The NHS offers these women a test (I had this and was put on a drip with antiBs and my DS1 was given them too at birth).

I don't think the implications of this are to be taken lightly - and I completely understand the terror of the worst outcome here's, but we must be sure that blanket treatment doesn't have even more undesirable effects