Was your baby given antibiotics after birth?

[Annie75]

Just thought I'd ask out of interest. My baby was given a precautionary 5-day dose because they thought she might have an infection. It was an intravenous drip and felt fairly invasive. The bloods showed she was fine and we were in hospital for a good few more days than we otherwise would. I realised that three other mums I know have the same experience recently and wondered if this is becoming more 'standard' in hospitals as a precautionary measure. I'm sure it has its place, but am curious.

Anyone else's baby been given the same?

Wilkie,

God that is terrible, your poor sisters SIL must have been devastated, and like you said for the sake of a test the baby could of been saved.

I only read the whole of this thread tonight and realised you went through the same trauma I went through a couple of weeks ago. I was fortunate he didnt need a lumbar puncture but hearing him scream when they had to put canula in TWICE because the first fell out was just the most heartbreaking thing, they then had to take blood from his head because they couldnt get any from his feet or hands and I dont mind admitting I cried like a baby.
I was so bloody scared I was going to lose him and I wouldnt wish an experience like that on my worst enemy but thankfully he seems to be fine now. Like you I have nothing but praise for the docs and nurses who treated him. They were absolutely fantastic, the nurses were actually squabbling over who was going to look after him. Cant praise them enough!
I do think that if the GBS test had been offered routinely like all the other tests that we wouldnt of had to go through that though. Hope yr LO is ok now.

I had group b strep, and they didn;t get enough iv ab in to me bofore dd1 was born, sos he had to have iv ab. hideous. dd2 not though

DS had 3 days of IV antibiotics after he was born. I was GBS+ (asked to be tested in late pregnancy because I had read about it a few years before).

I had the 2 sets of IV antibiotics in labour but after DS was born we noticed a rash on him - the Dr came and had a look and said the rash was nothing to worry about but his fontenelle was bulging which could be a sign of infection. They took him down to the SCBU to put his canula in (he was asleep and didn't wake up which was a relief - he had blood tests for something else when he was a few months old and that was horrible - I blubbed into a muslin square) and did blood tests. The initial test suggested there might be an infection but the proper tests came back (after 3 days) negative as did the ear swab he had done straight after birth.

I think they err on the side of caution with GBS - which is a good thing as it can be very serious.

Cantseemyfeet - you poor thing, it such an awful thing to go through. Thankfully, mine was back in January but the experience terrified me for a good couple of months afterwards. I was convinced I was going to lose him

There for the grace of god eh?

Both mine were because of GBS and the PROM thing. Hideous. DS2 was born 3 years ago and I still remember his cries. But, better to be safe etc. With DS2 though, they already knew I had GBS and I had antibiotics intravenously during labour (very painful) so I thought that he wouldn't need them. However, as my temp spiked during labour they reckoned he was still at risk (2 sections btw). I was gutted as I'd hoped to avoid it second time round and then some silly cow doctor tried to take him off to be canulated the minute the midwife had checked him over. I had to be really rather stroppy to get to hold him first before she took him. It wasn't as if he was a SCBU case. I still feel a bit about that.

I am a Group B Strep carrier, it was never mentioned when pg with ds 14 years ago although I'd had AB for an infection long before that.

With dd 2 years ago I blindly went into hospital for prophylactic ABs during labour. But I didn't have any of the other risk factors and did not get the private test done.

We all know that uneccessary ABs are bad for us so I have decided that next time I will get the private test done (the NHS test is not reliable enough, I hear there are far too many false positives and false negatives) and then make a decision on my care based on the result and known risks factors within that pg, like +GBS in urine, ROM

if you have antibiotics check that you & baby don't get thrush - it can be awful when breastfeeding. Look for white spots in babys mouth and pain between bf.

yep, we were both given antibiotics as my waters broke days before anything happened, plus things were v long and complicated - I also have no spleen, so maybe they thought I was prone to infection.

Yes. My DS was less than 24 hours old when the paediatrician who was discharging the babies that day said she thought his breathing was a bit of a concern, although she called it 'borderline'. She consulted a colleague who agreed, and DS was whisked off for X-rays, spinal fluid and blood tests

Turns out the X-ray showed a chest infection which was eventually diagnosed as pneumonia, although the spinal and blood tests didn't grow anything else. He was put on a 5 day course of 2 broad spectrum IV a/biotics via a canula in his hand, plus nystatin drops and 6-hourly observations of his resps, pulse and temperature. It was pretty miserable, particularly as the a/biotics had to be administered every twelve hours and they started his course at 2pm. That meant a lonely walk through deserted hospital corridors to SCBU at 2am - about the most depressing thing you could imagine.

I do wonder whether they were being over-cautious, especially as there were two other babies on the ward with non-specific infections, but having read the other posters experiences maybe I underestimated the severity of what can happen if these sorts of infections aren't treated quickly and hit hard with antibiotics.

However, DS has suffered with a pretty dodgy tummy and digestive system ever since, and I know that a/biotics can really strip an already immature and delicate gut of all the good bacteria. Has anyone else experienced this with their LOs?

i had been diagnosed woth strep b but not untill 12 hrs after baby was born but luckily for me i had a kidney infection so was antibiotics anyway so bvaby was ok but if i hadn't had infection my son could of been critically ill as there was huge panic as it had been left so long before we found out i think thats great that they did that as too many infant deaths are due to undiagnosed strep b and it would only cost 34 pound to test when pregnant but nhs will not fund this it hink we should all be given a choice to pay as if i had known i had strep b my son could have recieved treatment but luckily someone was watching over me although i was in alot of pain with kidney infection it saved my ds life