Strep B and water birth?

[LadyAntonella]

All very hypothetical atm.

Has anyone had to have antibiotics during labour for Strep B? I may need to have it (if I have another DC that is). My DC1 had some sort of infection after she was born and one of the swabs from her ear came back with Strep B. No one has really confirmed if that means I would have to have antibiotics during labour or not - see? Very hypothetical!

Anyway, does anyone know, would it be possible to have the antibiotics and also a water birth, or to labour for some of the time in water between doses iyswim?

TIA

Yep you can. I had ABs for GBS in my last birth and spent much of it in water. Planning the same this time around.

Thanks quod!

If your baby tested + for gbs it will be recommended you have IVABX next time.

However, that shouldn't preclude you from a waterbirth. Thats my plan this time and all mw have been v supportive.

Thanks Team. It's funny as the
pediatrician only mentioned the strep B swab in passing and no one mentioned what that would mean for any future births. I guess I'll just mention it to mw if / when I am pregnant. That's great that your mws are supportive of water birth.

You can have a look on the GBS support website, lots of info there.

Some medical professionals seem quite blasé and others much more on the ball with GBS. Thing is a lot of people carry it, and the risk is low that the baby will become infected, but as you are aware they can become very very poorly if they do.

Good luck

Probably not that helpful as I'm not in UK, but I had intravenous antibiotics for GBS, but was not attached to a drip. They stuck a big needle thing in my hand and left it there, then injected three massiverounds of antibiotics during early labour. Suppose they would have done more if it had gone on for longer.

Is this a possibility in the UK? Where I am they swab for GBS at 36 weeks, so this method is used for all the people who test positive.

That's really helpful both - thank you. Will look into the big needle thing and the support website.

I'm a midwife - I think it's very likely they will want to give you IV ABX given your history but there's absolutely no reason why you can't have a waterbirth. Just have to try and avoid the cannula getting wet. You're normally given a dose every 4 hours (unless you're allergic to penicillin in which case it's every 8 hours as a different drug is used) until the baby is born and then the baby will be on observations for several hours afterwards.

Amazing to read that from a mw - many thanks golden.