Strep B and Homebirths?

[gemstones]

Hi

Im currently 24wks with DC3.
The thing im really worrying about is that with my previous 2 labours they were very very quick and to top it off both babies ended up in SCUBU due to both having strep b and because of the quickness it was too late for them to recieve antibiotics in time.

If i did have to have baby at home what would happen, would we be transfered to hospital to be checked out?

Can anyone give me any advice or your own similar experiences?
Thankyou!

Where I work you would be discouraged from having a hb due to previous strep b and the fact that babies were admitted to SCBU. Was that because they were ill or simply for antibiotics? We keep babies on the postnatal ward with mum if they are well enough. I do know of an instance where the midwife was happy to administer antibiotics at home though. In our unit babies recieve 48 hour obs if full antibiotic cover wasn't given in labour but only receive antibiotics themselves if they show signs of an infection. If I were you I'd do some serious reading on the effectiveness of antibiotics and GBS as there is a lot of literature to suggest they are at best ineffectual and at worst harmful to future development. Good luck

I tested positive for Strep B late pregnancy with DS. Was booked in for homebirth and midwives happy for me to have it - but they wanted us to come in afterwards for the anti-biotics.

To be honest, that defeated the object of the homebirth for me! The thing I'd liked the best about it with DD was that I had been able to have a bath in my own bathroom, eat my own food and curl up with DD in my own bed - so if I couldn't do that with DS, there wasn't much point in being at home.

I went into hospital planning to have an epidural (figured if I was there, I might as well have the pain relief!) but he arrived too quickly!

I'm not well up on the pros and cons of the antibiotics but I just didn't think I could forgive myself if I didn't have them and he became ill.

I'm not sure how helpful any of this is to you but thought I'd post just in case

Thankyou

Yes they both were treated with antibiotics, DS2 was quite poorly.
Im just worrying that i may not make it to hospital and what would happen after.
I think i will have to speak with midwife at my 28wk appointment and air my concerns.

Thanks for replying

How quick were your labours? Is there a real danger that you wouldn't make it to hospital?

My first labour was 6 hrs start to finish and my second was 1 hr. Its a half hour drive to the hospital. Im also worrying about the weather as it will be the end of Jan, just have this awful vision of being in 10 ft of snow!

I think a labour of 1hr would be a reasonable argument for a home birth, it sounds like you will be a 'bba' (born before arrival) otherwise! I suppose the thing would be to have a test for GBS close to your due date and take it from there. If your other 2 have been poorly it sounds like the same may happen this time though doesn't it? And whatever happens it doesn't seem like you will have time to have full antibiotic cover in labour so that is sort of out of the equation really!