Home births and Group B Strep

[mrsdarcy]

I recently took my 10-week-old to meet the consultant who looked after us during (a difficult) pregnancy and mentioned to her that if I have any more I would love a home birth birth but knew it wouldn't be recommended as I have GBS.

She told me that a fellow consultant recently looked after a lady with GBS who had a home birth with the consultant's blessing. All they needed to do was make sure a local community midwife could site the venflon (not every midwife is qualified to do so). The midwife came round early in the labour with the venflon and came back later on to administer antibiotics.

I saw a few GBS threads here when I was pregnant and the assumption, including mine, was that if you have GBS you are strongly encouraged to deliver in a hospital. So if any of you have GBS and want a homebirth, it may be possible after all!

That's positive MrsDarcy, would love a home birth if I ever had number 3. Was advised not to with number 2 as the midwives couldn't administer the antibiotics but hopefully more are being trained to do it. GBS was the reason I decided not to have a home birth.

This is indeed a positive and encouraging story for any Group B Strep mums hopeful of a home birth. Perhaps it is a reflection of the increasing awareness of GBS issues among health professionals thanks to, among others, the charity Group B Strep Support. A very timely story too, as this week sees the start of the first ever national Group B Strep Awareness Week.

Hi MrsDarcy, I hope my consultant is as willing as the one you refer to! I'm 35wks and just about to do the GBSS recommended test, then seeing my consultant at 37wks to discuss homebirth options depending on the result. Information I received from GBSS stated that GBS comes and goes and it does not necessarily mean you will have it during subsequent pregnancies, but possibily have more of a chance of carrying it because it was known to be there in the past. So even though I had it with ds (found out two wks after her was born) I'm just starting a 'course' of raw garlic from now until bubba is born to see if that helps clear any presence of the bug. I was going to post about it once I've done the test to see if it does actually help get rid of it. Look out for it in a week or so!

Good luck 99redballoons! It would be great it GBS didn't automatically preclude you from a home birth.

Hi MrsDarcy, just posted my update here if you're interested

That's great news! Thanks so much for letting me know!