GROUP B STREP - ANYTHING I CAN DO?

[frenziednester]

Have just been told today I have a heavy colonisation of GBS - I am 32 weeks. Has anyone tried supplementary homeopathic/natural remedies in pregnancy to try and minimise risk? I know I have to have IV antibiotics in labour but just wondered if there is any self help I can be getting on with. I googled this and the only thing I found was teatree oil in the bath.

FN,
I had this too and I really don't think you should worry. I was so nervous about it all (have famously crap local hospital) but it was so straightforward in the end. I didn't even notice the AB because they weren't permanently attached to a drip or anything...this what I envisaged beforehand. All it means is a canula in your hand they can inject straight into. Please don't worry. I don't think there is anything else you can do, but it's honestly not a big deal if they are aware of it and get the AB going at the start.

This is not something you can risk with homeopathic/or natural remedies!

You must make sure you receive your antibiotics 4 hours before delivery (EVEN IF YOU HAVE A C SECTION) and don't let them tell you otherwise!

Take it easy, very easy, You dont want to increase the risk of premature labour, if your hind waters break, they could leave you for a week befor inducing you, please be aware you are at increased risk of infection.

I am also gbs+ I had one baby fine and one baby with a gbs infection, the first baby received antibiotics and the second didn't!

Dont let them do unneccessary internal examinations, this can also increase the risk of infection.

But the most important bit of advice is get your antibiotics!

Teatree oil is an antibacterial, its good for healing but dont rely on it to prevent a gbs infection.

I've been tested postive for GBS also.. am i still able to have a pretty mobile labour?

I doubt I will be able to get in the birthing pool as I would have liked.

take a look at the group B strep support site (www.gbss.org.uk) and kick up stink for what you want. some hospitals say no to waterbirths because of the canula for IVABs, but see what gbss.org.uk say.

I went to docs today referred by MW, becuase the strep is itching so badly (that's how they picked it up) and he said that i should take penecillin now and there should be no need for a drip in labour if the penecillin does the trick. when I politely questioned this as it contradicted the GBSS leaflet and MW advice, he got all uppitty. Any medical type MNs got an opinion on this?

sorry I'm not sure about this, hope someone can help.

Did you get tested by the NHS?

Hi Frenziednester - with my second they told me I had to have the antibitoics during labour purely because I had tested positive for it with the first. They said the test wasn't accurate enough so far on in pregnancy or something so they would do antibiotics as a matter of course. They said once you'd had it, you should always have the medication with each following pregnancy.

thanks lucie loo! You know these Germany type doctors......

AmieR i had a mobile birth walking and on birthing ball was told should not go in water once wather broken some thing to do with the infection going into water i got my self in a right state with my first about it but tryed not to worry to much

Hi there. I've just spoken to the people at Group B Strep Support www.gbss.org.uk about some of the issues raised here and they said :

• although you should keep a cannula site dry, this shouldn't stop you having a water birth.

• strep B can come and go so, although a positive result during this pregnancy means you should be offered intravenuos antibiotics in this labour, it doesn't mean you are particularly likely to be carrying it again in another pregnancy.

• antibiotics taken orally against strep B carriage don't work, and they don't prevent GBS infections in babies when they're born, so even if you have antibiotics during your pregnancy, you should also be offered them intravenously when you go into labour. They

were disappointed to hear the dr gave such wrong information & then wasn't happy to be questioned, but said that sadly there's still a lot of ignorance around, even among health professionals!

• the only time antibiotics are recommended during your pregnancy (apart from in labour) is if you've got a strep B infection, like a urine infection. Then it should be treated with antibiotics, and your urine retested a week after you've finished the course. You should still be offered the intravenous antibiotics when you go into labour afterwards.

• the tests usually used on the NHS gives a falsely negative result to up to 50% of women carrying GBS when the swab is taken, although a positive result is highly reliable. The private test (which they're campaigning to be made freely available to all pregnant women on the NHS) is highly sensitive, provided it's done within 5 weeks of delivery - longer than that, and it becomes more likely that the GBS carriage will have come or gone!

• they don't know of any good research which shows that tea-tree oil has any benefit against strep B carriage.

There's loads of information on their website www.gbss.org.uk or you an always e-mail them.

Hope that's helpful.

I can recommend the private test. it's available from The Doctor's Laboratory (details on the gbss site).

you just e-mail/call them requesting the pack containing kit to do the swabs and instructions. mine arrived in 2 days, I think.

you / your midwife does the swab at 35-37 weeks, and send it off in a pre-paid envelope with a cheque/credit card payment of about £35. The results were texted to me the next working day, although they say 3 working days. Easy.

dont worry I had Group B strep but by time I got to hospital i was 7 centimetres dilated so no time for the 2 lots of antibiotics also wen my son was born his hand was too chubby!!! so they couldnt give him antibiotics either cos couldnt find vein we were kept in hosp for 2 days for observation both fine. I have read some horror stories but alot of women have it I dont think thers much u can do

FN - I was GBS + - it comes and goes as it lives in the bowel too. If you took the abs now it could clear it in your bladder or fanjo but you would be likely to be reinfected because they can't clear the colonisation in your bowels. They normally only bother with abs during pregnancy if someone with GBS has a bladder infection. You would still need abs during labour.

I just told everyone before and after the birth at every opportunity that I was GBS + so that they could take that into account when examining DS etc. My hospital was very good about it actually and all the MW and Docs where v. aware and didn't take the risks lightly.

The drip is fine it doesn't take long to go through so you are not attached to it all the time. The only thing I would insist on next time is someone experienced putting the canula in - I was used as practice for a junior doc and she messed it up twice before the consultant put it in properly but by that time the only site available was practically on my wrist which got in the way a bit when I was leaning on my hands during the 2nd stage.

CL - It is interesting to hear the info from GBSS on waterbirths - I would probably go for one next time so it is good to know they aren't prohibited with a canula.

I had a GBS+ swab in my first pregnancy but the pregnancy was otherwise normal. I made an informed decision not to have antibiotics if everything was alright at the time, it was not a decision I made lightly. For me everything turned out well and I have recently had my second healthy baby. I just can't believe that 25% of women or maybe even more need antibiotics in labour to ensure that their babies are safely delivered. I was also concerned that having a large dose of antibiotics might cause problems at the time or subsequent problems with resistance to antibiotics for my child.

Please make sure you receive the antibiotics during labour as others say - I wouldn't worry too much about natural remedies. my 3rd child(dd2) was diagnosed with neonatal meningitis 8 days after birth - and I am sure (although not confirmed) it was to do with GBS. She did make a full recovery(as far as we know- time will tell they said) after a further 8 days in hospital - we were very luck to realise the signs and symptoms so early on and took her straight to hospital - she had a temperature, faint purple spots on the soles of her feet and screamed when touched. Also trust your instincts - you know best. Good luck.

My sister has just been told she has Group B Strep. I have done a little research on the subject, and David Cameron MP is supporting testing all women for this in the uk like the USA,Spain,Italy and Australia (among others) do. More than 20 babies die because of GBS infection needlessly, each year, because the Government is too tight to implement screening for this, and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) who advise them say that it needs to be shown to be cost effective. Testing saves lives and prevents serious illness (around 700 babies infected each year). All women shoud insist on being given the sensitive test (a rectal and vaginal swab - currently only available privately). It is shocking to know that my sister could have been at a much greater risk of having a neonatal death if she hadn't have been given a swab for a supposed vaginal infection. I am normally a lurker but felt strongly that I had to post about this.