GBS+ Has anyone refused antibiotics?

[Yorky]

Why? and how much pressure where you under to have them?
I am GBS+ and want to go ahead with my planned homebirth without antibiotics as I believe I was a carrier with DS and he was fine but community midwives aren't keen
Thanks

Unless there is an additional risk factor present (ie. labour before 37 weeks, prom or maternal fever during labour) NICE says antibiotics should be offered not insisted on.

Assuming you have no risk factors, you can monitor the baby after birth and if the baby develops a fever, treat the baby with antibiotics instead.

I have a good friend who went on with her homebirth (in may) after finding out she was GBS+ & all went fine. She did a lot of research beforehand in order to reach this decision & got info from a consultant & midwife, & they all agreed that it was ok, & the risks were minimal UNLESS (as BabiesEverywhere) wrote there are other risk factors involved. The thing is, I think it's a good idea to get as much info as possible both from health professionals you trust & also from the internet (e.g. www.gbss.org.uk/) before reaching a decision. Good luck!

Thank you for your positive comments, BE - thats what I'm telling my MW but she's not keen. Glad everything went well for your friend Maria

Hi Yorky,
Dont want to put a dampner on comments but my son was very poorly after he was born with GBS. I hadnt had test done, never bothered with Ds1 or DS2 and both seemed fine, DS3 was born 10 days OD, waters hadnt broken early and birth was great. Was discharged hours later and all was well until he started making grunting noises and breathing really fast when he was 4 days old. His temp was high so doctor advised an overnight hospital stay to observe him and we were discharged the next day. 24 hours later he was rushed back in with a temp of 40 and no one seemed to have a clue what was causing it. He was given IV antibiotics which was horrendous to watch, his canula fell out time and time again. They discovered days later that he had the GBS infection in his cord. He was finally discharged at 11 days old and is a little gem now but I so wished I had been tested and treated before I had him.

I dont want to deter you from whatever decision you make, it will no doubt be monitered better because you have tested positive, I still dont know that much about GBS but I know I wouldnt hesitate to be treated if I had anymore children (which I am not). Good Luck with whatever decision you make.

Cantseemyfeet, I'm sorry you and your DS had such a hard time. I know that although GBS is rare it can be very serious, thats why the decision is so hard, I know I can't ignore the risks and peoples bad experiences. Thank you for sharing and I'm glad your son is doing well now.

Is there a reason why you don't want antibiotics?

Yorky. Have a look at this similar thread from a couple of months ago. I posted my story on there and don't fancy writing about it again and ruining my day so early.

GBS and homebirth

'Treat the baby with antibiotics instead'
Seriously?
My baby had to have IV antibiotics and every single time they were given into the back of his hand he screamed in pain. I would have done everything i possibly could to take that pain away from my tiny baby.

I see. Hadn't realised the prophylactic antibiotics are given iv.

FWIW, DS1 was born overdue, my waters had been assessed as not broken and i did not have a fever.
He nearly died.

'Treat the baby with antibiotics instead'

Yes, really.

I was positive last labour. I had antibiotics several times during long labour AND then my baby had antibiotics every 12 hours and yes the screaming was terrible. Alongside blood tests etc. We both got thrush making breastfeeding painful and she had thrush on her bottom, so had painful bleeding blisters on her bottom. So my newborn screamed every time she wee'd/poo'd.

Then after 4 days we got her results back. She had suffered all the IV's heel prick tests and bleeding blisters for nothing, she never had strep B.

So this time I want to monitor my baby and only put him/her through all that pain if it looks necessary.

I wouldn't risk it

themildmanneredjanitor, Yes, I hope to do the same next time. I now understand that you can test the baby at birth for a c reactant in the blood but my last hospital was very over cautious.

what repercussions?

I had the ABs as I had PROM.

I didn't get thrush that time fortunately, although I did when I had DS, when I had no ABs (not tested in that pregnancy).

so it's the risk of thrush v risk of a potentially life-threatening infection?

gbs pneumonia makes feeding damn near impossible btw.

can somebody explain the benefits of not having the AB's. lets compare the risks vs benefits.