GBS and skin to skin contact

[NoTeaForMe]

Hi,

I'm currently 36+6 and am thinking about my birth plan!

I have group b strep and have been thinking about getting skin to skin contact after the birth. I know they need to check the baby for signs of infection after birth but how quickly do they need to do this? Obviously I am anxious to know that the baby is ok, but I'd like to have a relatively calm time after the birth and had some skin to skin time with the baby. I know it's more important that they check the baby over, and I wouldn't stop them, just wondering how quickly the will whisk the baby away from me!

Thanks in advance!

There is no reason at all why you can't have skin to skin. If you get the appropriate antibiotics at the right time, then the baby will just need to be monitored for (on average) 24 hours afterwards. This means that for most babies they can be managed otherwise completely normally, just with regular checks of his/her temperature, breathing and heart rate and general condition. These checks will be done by your midwife. The paediatrician will be called if there are any concerns, but any good doctor worth their salt will respect your wishes and I would never take a baby off its mum from skin to skin just to check it over! Any checks needed will be done with your permission, and with the baby in its cot next to you - anything different to this, and I'd want to know why! You might not even need to see a doctor until the routine baby check.

Even if they needed antibiotics themselves, if this is simply because you didn't have adequate cover, again most babies get to be with their mums all the time (you might not want to be their when they put the drip in though!), and you would still get time with your baby before that happened. If your baby shows signs of being unwell, that's a different story, and they would likely need to go to Special Care, but again you would be encouraged to stay with them as much as possible.

I'm a Paediatric Registrar who has worked in 7 different Maternity Units and the way we managed babies was pretty much the same in all of them.

Skin to skin is fabulous - it's great for you to get to know your little one, and it helps regulate their temperature, breathing and blood sugars - all good stuff!

Hope this helps!

I agree with Kittykatzen. I have GBS and when ds2 was born I had plenty of skin to skin contact.

Good luck with the birth!

Sorry I have no experience of Group B Strep but didn't want you to go unanswered.

They do checks on newborns anyway and I had Gestational Diabetes so they took a blood sample from DD to check her sugar levels. However i was given plenty of skin to skin time, all the check were done with DD next to me.

I'd ask for clarity from your midwife, but in my experience midwives understand the importnance of skin to skin time. When they do the check next to you it'll give you a chance to have a slurp of that cup of tea you'll have earned - it may be the last cup of hot tea you have for a while to enjoy it!

Good luck.