Home birth and Group B Strep- anyone positive went on to have a HB?

[needahand]

I might be Group B Strep positive and am very disappointed as I was planning a HB. I was wondering if anyone had the same sort of experience.

Absolutely northernsoul. I'd never heard of it prior to the phone call from MW. Sent me all a panic, thinking I'd ' caught something'...which then lead initially to me thinking ' he's been elsewhere!' MW did explain that you don't ' catch' it in that way...didn't stop me worrying for England though.

So if you can't blame DH/P for it - where do you get it? I am trying to work out if I had it in blissful ignorance last time a that will influence my AB or not decision quite a lot, the NHSdirect website says that if you have had GBS in previous pg but baby was ok then there is more risk from the ABs! My get out of jail free card - but as far as I know I was never tested Am trying not to obsess about this, mostly unsuccessfully, and DH isn't back till tomorrow pm to have his ear chewed off!

Yorky it comes and goes, don't know how or why. It is not accurate to say that you will have it at term if you have it early. You should not make a decision on having abx or not on a test result done in early pregnancy, you should be tested again between 35 - 37 weeks. (if you want to know)

I'm in a similar position - desperately want a homebirth but tested GBS+ with a swab taken after a bleed at 18 weeks (currently 25wks). I've since found out that I also tested positive with DS's birth - this was in France where testing at around 35 weeks is routine, but the lab lost my swab and so I was retested less than 24 hours before labour started. The results weren't available until several days later and neither of us had any antibiotics.

I'm going for the garlic/probiotics/echinacea approach to try and make sure I am negative at 35-37 wks. It's a really tricky one though, there's no doubt that GBS can be really dangerous for a newborn, but it does have to be weighed up against the risks of the abs .

Reading on the strep b support group it says

" Up to a third of all men and women carry GBS in their intestines without symptoms and roughly a quarter of women of childbearing age carry GBS in the vagina at any one time
GBS is a normal body commensal (an organism that lives on another without harming it). "

So the chances of my having had it before are fairly high then? I know he was swabbed at birth because my waters went the day before he arrived (which MW said yesterday may have been caused by GBS) but nothing was ever said about the results - I wonder if they're in his notes, or my antenatal ones? I want to see them.

Well i had AB the second time and was fine.
Whether i had it not with my fisrt baby i'll never know, but i'd presume so.
To be honest with you, i wasnt even aware that there was a risk with AB, i just thought that was the done thing as soon as my waters broke.
My baby wasnt swabbed until the following day when he became ill, although it was apparent i was a strep b carrier and was being treated I'd presumed they had swabbed him at birth but miscommunications between staff meant it was missed.
Luckily he turned out fine. Was very worrying though.

I had a HB with my first baby and had planned one this time too - but tested positive at 39 weeks after a hindwater leak.

My midwife said I could go to hospital for the birth and have IVabs myself or I could go ahead with the HB but would then have to go into hospital afterwards so my baby could hav IVabs. I thought that would have been mean so chose the hospital birth but the midwife never put me under any pressure to do this.

Sadly for my son, I was only in labour for 2hrs so although I had the IVabs, he then had to have them anyway so could have had my HB after all! But I have to say, I didn't seem to have any intrusive monitoring, was encouraged to move around in labour etc so I'd def check your hospital's policy before you make a decision. I did have to stay in for 48 hours though so they could monitor us and check his temp every 4 hours.

Thanks Fleecy. I am chosing the hospital birth for pretty much the same reasons as you. I could have the first dose of AB in hospital and then go home, but have been told that if you only have one dose the baby then needs AB etc..It does seem unfair to put a little baby through that, so I would rather have them myself.

I do agree with Rolf and the others that it is so difficult to have consistent information

Went to dr this am and have amoxycillin which he says will clear up the GBS, but nice as it sounds he put it on my notes as a water infection which I suppose it is as thats where they found it but nothing I have read in the last week says its so easy to get rid of

Glad you've got the abs, Yorky. I am seriously ad-libbing here but I think that they deal only with the GBS in your urine and not the vaginal GBS - it can only be chased away so far!

When I had my DS2 I found about I had GBS a few weeks before delivery, but I didn't research it myself and just listened to what my midwife told me. I found out later that she was talking complete crap - I didn't know, for example, that I needed to get to hospital in time for abs, so I didn't get any. He had to have IV abs shortly after birth and it really wasn't very nice for him. I would definitely rather have them myself than see my baby have them.

DS2 had them because his temp went up (although as things turned out, he wasn't infected, thank goodness).

It is policy that any baby whose mother has GBS but hasn't had abs will be given the abs after delivery?

"It is policy that any baby whose mother has GBS but hasn't had abs will be given the abs after delivery?"

No. In fact I DID have abs in labour (many doses) and yet my baby still was pumped full of abs as well. She had blood taken and abs every 12 hours, midday and midnight and we both found it very distressing and she never had GBS, so it was all pointless in our case.

All that needs to happen is that the baby should be monitored and temp taken frequently for the first 24/48 hours. If a fever occurs the baby needs abs, if not the baby doesn't need anything.

Not read whole thread but I can't make my mind up about this? I'm due to have a HB and when I asked midwife at my home visit, she said they don't check for Group B Strep as it's rarely a problem in this country. I did have a swap at some point (probably at 6ish months) which showed bad thrush but nothing else but if we shouldn't test for GBS until 35+ weeks but they don't actually provide the test, what happens if you don't actually know you have it. This worries me slightly however midwife was very calm about the whole thing and not at all worried

I had positive test at 33weeks, was planning homebirth and was very disappointed when told would be "best" for me to have hospital birth.

Baby came too fast and was born at home anyway!!!!!! Midwife rang hospital to ask if baby should be taken in for observation or swab testing, but paediatrician just said we could stay at home as long as a watchful eye was kept on the baby for 48 hours to check for any warning signs and to go to hospital if any doubt.

I was so relieved it all happened the way I wanted a wonderful homebirth with no trip to hospital and no antibiotics.

The risks are real but when you look at the statistics, there are several women unknowingly with strep b giving birth everyday, at least if you have a positive test you will be watching out for dangers for your baby and forwarned.

PS: I thought that NO midwives in the UK could administer AB's? Have I got that wrong?

Looneytune, its really confusing. I want another HB as had perfect natural delivery last time and I don't know if I'm being selfish not wanting to go to hospital and be monitored and drugged.
I agree completely with those who say give me the drugs and don't stab the baby, but with DS I was never tested and so feel I was saved a lot of worry.
The statistics show that a baby with a GBS infection is pretty rare, but if they do get an infection its a nasty one with a good chance of long lasting effects which is why its such a hot debate.
I'm clinging to the hope that I had it unknown last time and it did no harm so good chance it won't be a problem again, bit of head burying I feel?

My DS1 was born with Group B Strep pneumonia 3.5 years ago. I had no idea what it was nevermind knew I was a carrier. The first I heard of it was when he was two days old and they got results of skin swabs.

My poor baby was born grunting and in severe respiratory distress. After 5 minutes of resuscitation he was taken from me for xrays and a spinal tap. I was not able to be with him while these procedures were performed on my newborn, because i had a caesarian and was also septic.

Thankfully he did not develop meningitis but was treated with meningitis strength doses on antibiotics. He was tubefed for 5 days and I was unable to attempt breastfeeding until around 5 days old by which time he had stopped rooting and his breathing was still to fast for him to feed properly. He made a gradual improvement and we were finally discharged from hospital when he was 2 weeks old. He finally latched on at around 8 weeks but had lost a lot of weight.

In his first year he had recurrent chest infections and bronchiolitis. At age 2 we finally got the all clear that the antibiotics had not affected his hearing as was the risk we took at the time.

He's now a perfectly healthy 3.5 year old.

Because of GBS I suffered postnatal depression, an anxiety ridden year, septicaemia. I still feel guilty that it was my infection, my ignorance and i will always feel that it was my fault.

I'm not sure what advice to give you, but have found this very therapeutic to write this down. All I can say is take GBS seriously.

Dragonbutter, I think your account gives very good reasons why IVAB's should be given thought to and probably accepted. I'm glad I had them and baby was born healthily.

Dragonbutter, so sorry to hear what happened with your DS. Glad to hear he is a healthy 3.5 year old today

Sadly even if they had tested you to be GBS positive at the time, they properly wouldn't of given you antibioties as you had a CS. I was told I wouldn't have to be retested or have AB if I consented to an elective CS. You were very unlucky.

Dragonbutter - sorry to hear about the trauma you went through when your son was born. It must have been horrifically worrying. Glad he's come through it all and is now a healthy little boy.

Just wanted to post a quick update as I said I would once I'd spoken to the midwife.

So, plan is still the same. I'll call them as soon as either my waters go or i feel like i'm in established labour. They'll come out and administer the first lot of IV antibiotics at home. I'll have another lot after four hours (and every four hours from then on).
They're happy for me to have the baby at home, but obviously would want me to transfer into hospital if there are any warning signs ie. long time between ROM and birth, or if I develop a fever during labour.

They will examine the baby when born and, assuming there is no immediate danger (if there is we'll be straight off to hospital, obviously), they will leave us with a check-list of things to look out for. They'll come back for a further check within six hours or we can go to the hospital at any point if we're worried.

This sounds reasonable to me as a plan of action. I'm perfectly happy to transfer in at the first sign of any problems and am grateful that my midwives are able to administer the ABs at home so I have still have the choice of a homebirth.

Hope this helps anyone who's planning for a birth soon...

oh, I'll definitely treat my breasts with Daktarin (or whatever it's called) as a preventative measure as the ABs gave me horrendous thrush last time. Dd and I kept passing it back to eachother, and it got so bad it nearly finished the breastfeeding for me at six weeks.

If anybody is considering refusing antibiotics for GBS PLEASE don't. I delivered my gorgeous little boy on 13/02/08 not knowing that I carried GBS. WIthin 20 mins of delivery he collapsed' Luckily due to the quick thinking of the midwife he was rushed straight to NICU and was started on antibiotics. He spent 2 1/2 weeks there being treated by IV antibiotics and on a ventilator with full life support. He had 2 failed attempts at being taken off the vent with heart failure in both cases. We actually saw his heart stop and him flatline 3 times and were told to prepare ourselves for the fact that he probably wouldn't ,ake it. He was eventually transferred to Alder hey Childrens Hospital for the possiblity of a heart transplant. Thank God that wasn't neccessary but the GBS has left him with a renal condition that caused high blood pressure. After 3 weeks at Alder Hey we finally had a diagnosis. He is on medication for it now and is doing really well but I dread to think what would have happened if that quick thinking midwife had't sent him to NICU right away. I really don't want to scare you but would not wish what we wnet through on my worst enemy.