Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Original poster

What's the view on group b strep tests these days?

36 replies

PrincessOfWails · 21/04/2011 20:45

Just wondering. My FIL is an idiot retired bacteriologist who kindly told me I was not at risk because it's only in lower class families (eh??) and is not routinely tested (true, but is that necessarily for the right reasons??).
I, however, do not want to put my baby at risk of anything preventable, and this seems like a small price to pay really.

OP posts:
edwinbear · 21/04/2011 21:15

hahahahaha i tested +ve for strep with DS, DH and I are both investment bankers so i guess that could class us as lower class! i paid for a test at 37 weeks, it was only £35 and a swab i did at home so no hassle at all. i was so glad i did as i have a friend whose baby got GB strep infection and was very, very ill indeed. i will be testing again with the one i'm currently expecting, not worth the risk in my mind. my midwife last time told me most midwives feel it should be routine and after i'd told her i'd had the test privately she told me if i'd said i wanted it she would happily have made up an excuse to have me tested on the NHS, bless her.

Original poster
PrincessOfWails · 21/04/2011 21:23

Oh, yeah, FIL is a total know-all and thinks, because bacteria is his thing, he has to express a view on this. And obviously I'm a woman so any reading up on the topic which I may have done is immediately invalid because of my chromosome... (I have a doctorate. From Oxford University. I can read really well, and understand difficult things! Grin)
LOL, investment bankers. Live in squalor, perchance? I asked him how the strep could decide who is which class, but he told me to stop being stupid...
[Sorry, accidental FIL rant!]

I have sent away for the test - and will do it - because I read up on the possible effects and thought it's not worth the risk.

Plus, the £35 charge is just about within my lower class income. Wink

OP posts:
edwinbear · 21/04/2011 21:28

Lets hope it's negative, how will your FIL cope with the shame brought on the family if it's not :-)

JaxTellersOldLady · 21/04/2011 21:32

your FIL is talking absolute tosh! lower class indeed!

My cousin lost a baby to GBS when she was a couple of days old and my first child had it when born (wasnt detected until 3 days later) and we were both very very ill! Had the test with DD and she was negative for GBS, obviously we moved from lower to middle class by the time DD came along. Hmm

Lower class indeed. I have a title I'll have you know. Wink

PinkFondantFancy · 22/04/2011 07:18

Marking my place as I tested positive when they swabbed after my MC but I've been told that's irrelevant and instead what matters is whether I'm positive closer to my due date.

How do you put up with your FIL?? :)

abayababe · 22/04/2011 09:09

I tested positive for GBS, had a elcs and was not put on antibs as the chances of passing it on were slim, my baby did get an infection, pneumonia and sepsis, was on a ventilator, received a blood transfusion, had a lumbar puncture, and spent two weeks in nicu, he was very il, I was glad I had got the test as the staff were extra vigilant due to me being positive and they had him in icu with 30mins of being born. I never imagined that this could happen and the seriousness of a GBS infection in a newborn was never explained to me, it's rare, but it can happen, this was my third dc and I never tested positive in my previous pregnancies, so my advice is better to be safe than sorry, I wouldn't wish what we went through on anybody.

champagnesupernova · 22/04/2011 09:14

I paid the £35 I did my own test for DS1 and this was then on my notes for DS2 - had the the a/bs in first labour but no time in 2nd and was put on alert as to what to watch for in the newborn infection

Never heard about lower class families - GBS is everywhere isn't it?
The only thing I would do over is get the test and take it to the m/w to get HER to do it - bloody hard to do yer own rectal swab {tmi}

mrsnoname · 22/04/2011 09:17

I tested three times with three different DC, first (-), second (+), third (-) ...
OMG, what does that make me... a social class cheater Shock?!?!

Original poster
PrincessOfWails · 22/04/2011 14:47

PinkFondant to answer your question, I post on mumsnet...Wink

I do have a m/w appt coming up so I could ask her to do it - will see how tricky it seems!

Thanks all!

OP posts:
MarieFromStMoritz · 22/04/2011 14:49

Your FIL is an arse.

A friend of mine lost her baby son to GBS only a few weeks ago Sad. Incidentally, she is a lawyer.

juneau · 22/04/2011 15:05

I tested +ve for GBS when I had my DS three years ago and was on antibiotics during labour (that was in the US, where they test everyone - its a classless society you know Wink).

This time I ordered the private ECM test over the internet and did it at home (the one offered on the NHS is apparently not accurate and can give false positives and negatives), and I got my result yesterday and it's negative. Yay! No antibiotics this time and I can now book into the birthing unit rather than the general hospital.

Jill72 · 22/04/2011 16:13

I am defiantly going to pay and have this test done - apparently it's not just America but many other European countries that include this test as standard.

I am 39 and due to postcode lottery was not able to have the NT scan done and had to pay for this privately too. Feel very let down by NHS so far, (I won't mention the 5 min 12 week scan!!!!!!).

I think the NHS needs a radical overhaul of maternity services - the more I read and hear the more disgusted I become - not the fault of hard working midwives who can only do what they can with the resources they have. We are a leading light in so many aspects of health care across the world but maternity does not seem to be a priority!! GRRR GRRR GRR!

Jill72 · 22/04/2011 21:21

www.gbss.org.uk/

This is the support group I found out about and it tells you how to go about getting the test :)

Jill72 · 22/04/2011 21:31

Also - if you feel strongly there is a letter template that you can download and adapt to send off to your MP. I am going to do this. Mumsnet is famed for it's ability to make things happen ladies!! Hope you might find time to do this :)

juneau · 22/04/2011 21:32

I agree with you Jill. Maybe I wouldn't feel like that if I hadn't had such excellent care with my first pregnancy in the US. But having experienced great care I feel like I've been cast adrift to go away and gestate with this pregnancy in the UK. If you appear to be low-risk (which I am, although at 37 I'm hardly young), you're just left to your own devices and the care is more or less non-existent. I've been really unimpressed with the midwives I've encountered - they're just so lackadaisical. I didn't show up with a urine sample one time - no problem - bring one next time. WTF? I've hired a doula for my labour, having seen how often labouring women are left alone with no medical care for hours at a time on 'One Born Every Minute', and we paid for two extra scans as well. I'm just grateful we can afford to 'top up' the care that's given as standard.

MollieO · 22/04/2011 21:37

I tested positive. Ds was born 7 weeks early and spent 5 weeks in SCBU, a good part of which was in NICU and there were times the doctors said he was unlikely to survive.

The gbss website Jill72 linked is the best resource I know for a balanced view of the risks of gbss.

Jill72 · 22/04/2011 21:37

Are you American or British? I think part of my problem is that I have watched far too many episodes of Portland Babies (private London maternity hospital) and perhaps was expecting too much!! lol! But seriously I am very underwhelmed with my experience so far....

munkii · 22/04/2011 21:43

I chose to pay for a private DIY test too, and the results were not only sent through the post but texted too.

Which was very handy as DD appeared early!

I totally agree, a small price to pay for having one less thing to worry about.

I am sorry to hear about poster's poorly babies.

And I hope OP all goes well with the birth and with FIL Wink

Jill72 · 22/04/2011 21:48

I agree Munkii!

Jill72 · 22/04/2011 21:50

Mollie - jope you don't mind a question or two? did you test positive AFTER your baby was born - was Strep B the reason for an early delivery??

juneau · 22/04/2011 21:55

I'm both Smile, but on this issue I feel my American side coming to the fore!

scotlass · 22/04/2011 22:01

I was routinely tested for GBS with DD (12yrs ago), the hospital were conducting a trial at the time for a research study. I hadn't heard anything about it prior to that.

Was sent home as was not in established labour, first baby etc etc. Fast forward 14hrs and DD was born, taken to SCBU for about 15 mins (sub optimal CTG I think). Brought back and left with us for about 15 mins. I knew she wasn't right, was grey, grunting and just not right.

She was taken back to SCBU then into ITU and started on anti biotics for a chest infection. A Dr told me I'd nearly caused a riot as the SCBU consultant and microbiologist had words as I'd tested positive for GBS and they hadn't put 2 and 2 together until a weekly meeting, 4 days later.

I shudder at the thought if I'd put DD down in her cot and not been observing her. She's been absolutely fine since thank god.

With DS they just erred on side of caution and gave him antibiotics post birth for a couple of days (I'd left it too late to be given them in labour)

Jill72 · 22/04/2011 22:05

I know your experience was some years ago but it just highlights that this is a serious issue that HAPPENS and can be easily detected with a relatively cheap test - it's just not good enough!! Glad your story had a happy ending

MollieO · 22/04/2011 22:34

Jill no I had a fall whilst pregnant and ended up in hospital. They took a swab and a few days later a student midwife called me with the results. More for info rather than any action. I knew someone who'd lost their newborn to group b strep so it put me on my guard re iv abs during labour. I had those and Ds was whisked off to SCBU as soon as he was horns by the time I got to see him he was in a bad way. His first week was very up and down and when he was a week old he just seemed to give up (he had to be revived 16 times in 2 hours and the doctors didn't think he'd last the night).

He had every single symptom listed on the gbss website for early onset gbss plus severe jaundice and apnoea (apparently because his nerve endings weren't developed enough for his brain to get his body to breath - at least that is what I was told).

MollieO · 22/04/2011 22:36

Horns? I meant born.

Swipe left for the next trending thread