GBS - IV antibiotics

[SubParbanMum]

I just got a letter to say I have group b strep so they recommend IV antibiotics during labour and 12 hour monitoring after. I’m so upset as I had a drip induction for my first birth and ended up dragging this thing around whenever I wanted to move and I felt strapped to a bed.
Is the IV antibiotic drip the same or are there alternatives?
I’m already having to deliver in the delivery unit rather than birth centre and this feels like another medicalised birth for me. Thanks

It'll be intermittent boluses of antibiotic.

Thank you. So not throughout and continuous which is good news. Were you allowed a water birth with it?

With DD3 I had antibiotics due to PROM, in the end it all (finally) happened very quickly so I only had the first dose before she was born. I had a great midwife who suggested she put the cannula in halfway up my forearm so it didn't get in the way like it would on my hand/elbow. Bloody great idea, I didn't even notice it was there when I was properly in labour, and didn't affect how I used my hands at all, no pain/annoyance bending wrists etc, I'd definitely recommend asking for the cannula there. I also had a water birth, no problem with antibiotics/cannula at all. Hope that helps!

Thank you so much! That’s a great tip.

It's not bad at all. They will put the canula in but you don't need to be connected to the drip at all times. It's just 5 mins or so once every 4 hours. I had it in my hand, which I was really worried about (it didn't occur to me to ask for it somewhere else) and it was no problem at all. I spent time in water, changed position a lot, everything was fine :)

I gave birth 11 days ago, I had one bag on my IV that dripped for half an hour then every 4 hours it was given as an injection through my cannula. Was a little bit sore when pushed through but nothing major.

1 in 4 women will have strep b when going into labour, but most won't know it and won't get antibiotics. It's very rare for it to cause a problem for the baby although the risk is there. I turned down antibiotics as there's lots of recent research into how gut bacteria affects health and I didn't want to unnecessarily give my baby antibiotics during labour. The hospital offered strep b monitoring instead, where they took my baby's temperature every 3 hours for the first 18 hours.