Any experience/Advice about labouring with STREP B?

[WellThisIsntWhatIPlanned]

I was planning a home birth,
I have fast labours and only just made it to the local unit the last time, (1hr 39mins in total gave birth 10 mins after arriving) this time the local unit (2mins away) has closed down and the hospital is 40mins drive away.

Yesterday I was hit with the bombshell that I'm carrying Group B strep.

The midwife initially advised IV antibiotics and a hospital labour,this is my worst nightmare,I move around a lot in labour,I HATE needles,and I'm terrified if I leave home we won't make it to the hospital in time.
The midwife agrees I may not make it in time and is as concerned as I am.

I'm also terrified if I stay at home my baby will contract the infection and become incredably ill.

My choices are:

Stay at home,watch baby very carefully ourselves.

Go into hospital but refuse IV antibiotics,stay in for 12hrs observation by trained doctors specifically looking for signs of GBS in the baby.

Go into hospital,take the IV,stay in for monitoring,as the Anti-Bs will have wiped out any good bacteria the baby will be VERY susceptible to ANY infections.

Please please help me,I cannot make any sense of what is our best or safest option.

I had it with both of my labours/births and had monitoring of the baby after birth, I had fast labours and there was not enough time to have iv antibiotics. I think they need a certain amount of time to work. were you told this? it might help eliminate that as an option.

I had strep b. (sorry im typing one handed) (in down under)

Were you able to labour as you wished? Was water birth an option?

Thankyou so much,I really appreciate the reply.

I had GBS with my DC2, like you I was very upset about it when I found out (around 20 weeks), but gave birth at 41 weeks to a healthy 9lb 1oz baby... best of all is I had an active labour and the IV in my hand wasn't an issue at all.

Basically they gave me the IV once they established I was in labour, but the midwives were keen for me to move around as much as I wanted to (DD was back to back so they knew that moving around would help the labour).

I spent a lot of time squatting on floor, on birthing stool, standing up etc etc and at each moment the midwives made sure the IV thingy was long enough to move with me... I held on very tightly to the gas and air and even that cable didn't get in the way of the IV.

They took the IV out of my hand as soon as DD was born. She was kept in for 24 hours to be monitored - temp checked, skin colour checked etc.

My labour was 8 hours long, so I can't advise on your fast labours, but just wanted to get across that the IV wasn't as big an impediment as I'd feared.

I had it too, but labour was very fast and they didn't have time to take effect. I was told 4 hours. DS had to have abs after birth but I was later told that this wasn't the current procedure and baby should have been monitored instead. Can you speak to a senior midwife about your options? I only found out in the day DS arrived, so didn't have much chance to discuss it.

Just noticed that you'd asked about water birth.

I only had GBS with my 2nd child, not my first.

I'd laboured in the water with my first child and didn't really like it, so I told the midwife that I didn't want to try the pool 2nd time round. The impression I got that the IV wouldn't have been an issue, as long as I kept my hand out of the water.

I didn't think about a water birth as my labours just fly by so fast, so I can't tell you about that, sorry!

They monitored my newborns for 12 hours or 24 hours (cant remember) just checking temp and what not (cant remember what exactly).

The likely hood is I won't get a chance to labour in the water,I've tried twice and it never fills up in time,but it might make me feel calmer in the run up if its an option iyswim.

Do you have strep B in your urine? AFAIK having it in the urine or having prolonged labour after waters have broken, or fever during labour all raise the risk, but an incidental finding of strep b on a vaginal swab alone is less risk.

I had it when I had DD - waters were gone for 3 days before she was born by CS and a swab done early in labour came back positive but I wasn't told, didn't find out until I requested my notes a year later She was fine BTW but I know they can be very unwell.

Second baby I chose not to get tested/have routine ABs but would have accepted ABs if any of the increased risk factors ^^ applied. But he was EMCS so in hospital for the first few days after the birth anyway.

The homebirth.org site has some good (evidence based) info about Strep B

No,was only found in a vaginal swab.

That homebirth site has some good information,thankyou.

The NHS seem to have some serious comunication issues.
mine was picked up a month ago,but they didn't see fit to mention it until yesterday!

I tested positive for group b strep in my first pregnancy and had DC1 and 2 in hospital with IV AB's. Both babies were fine. When I got to my 3rd baby, I was told that the NHS procedure had changed and that observations of the baby after birth was sufficient. They refused to test me to see if I was still carrying group b strep. I had two meetings with the consultant about this as it was such a U-turn on procedure! I ended up having a planned home birth with DC3 and all was fine. Good luck.