Hi,
I had my baby 12 days ago and he seems to be a healthy well baby. I also had a very nice home birth this time, he is my second baby and as far as I am aware there were no complications during the birth. I had no pain relief and it was all very quick. I had a couple of stitches but nothing major.
Anyway, the midwife who comes to see you after the baby is born had a look at my stitches a week ago when my baby was just 3 days old and she sent me to the hospital to have it looked at as she wasn't sure that things looked right down below or with my stitches. I went to hospital and a consultant saw me who said everything looked fine and the midwife had maybe panicked. She took a swab from me just to check for any infection and I thought no more about if. I also felt fine by the way.
Out of the blue a few days ago, so a week after I had the swabs taken.. I got a call from a midwife at the hospital who said that the swabs had showed up Group strep b and she asked how I was and if my baby was well. I said that yes we both seemed fine and she didn't seem too concerned after that and just told me to enjoy my baby. This phone call has panicked me so much that I haven't relaxed since. I am a big worrier anyway but have heard (and read on the internet) about how dangerous Group strep b can be if passed to a newborn. I don't know a lot about this infection and tried to ask questions about it when I got the call from hospital but all she said was that they didn't know if I had it during labour or got it afterwards but that if it was going to pass to my baby that he would have been showing signs by now and would have been very ill shortly after delivery.
I am driving myself crazy with worry that my baby has strep b and that he is going to become very poorly. I have read that it can lead to meningitis and I can't get it out of my mind. At the moment my baby is feeding well, alert etc.
Is anyone able to put my mind at rest at all? Does anyone have any experience of Group strep b or know much about it?
Any advice greatly appreciated for this new and neurotic mother.