Home birth as planned,or hospital in light of Strep B...

[UpTheFRIGGinDuff]

This baby will be DC3,
I have had a hospital birth and a birthing center birth,I'd planned a home birth this time as previously it's been a mad rush to get to the planned place of birth,and I've only been there 10 mins or so before the baby arrived...I'm also pretty worried about intervention leading to more intervention and prefer to be left well alone during labour.

But,At my last ante natal appointment my midwife found that a swab taken previously showed Step B.
She said that she would advise hospital as soon as my waters broke or as soon as I felt I was in established labour,IV antibiotics during labour and for us to stay in for a day or so to watch for signs of infection.

Then she looked again at my notes.
I have very fast labours apparently,they start slowly enough but become intense very suddenly and within 30 mins of labour that I am certain is labour and not BH,I've given birth....The local hospital is a 40 min drive away,and the birthing center has been shut down.
My waters have broken during pushing both times.

So,if this labour happens as the others have,I wouldn't make it in time.

My midwife said the worst possible place for me to be giving birth is on a motorway without any assistance,and because of this she changed her mind swiftly and said that homebirth is likely to be safest in this situation.

But I won't be able to have IV antibiotics at home,nor will there be Paediatricians on hand watching the baby for signs of infection.

I'm really uncertain as to what I want and what is safest.
Obviously it's going to depend on the labour (eg if my waters break before I go into labour,hospital it is!) but I hate not having a plan and its driving me demented.

Can anyone give me advice,or some clarity on this?

(Sorry about the essay)

I have no idea, but ambulance as soon as you know you're in labour? Or go to hospital whenever you think you might be in labour? Strep B can pass as well, can't it? Good luck.

Of you look on homeobrtj forums there is info on homebirth with strep b.

Given your speedy labours I wpudl opt for homebirth and then you can go in to get you and baby checked over if you want/have any concerns.

www.homebirth.org.uk/gbs.htm

Yes,it's really uncertain,they can't tell that you have it at the point of labour until afterwards,so if they find it during pg,they treat as though you have it,just in case.

I have never called an ambulance in my life...wouldn't that be a waste of their time? or sort of abusing the system? I'd only think to call an ambulance if someone was in immediate danger...

I have a lot of BH contractions,they are always quite painful and can be regular,these have been happening in this PG since 20ish weeks at least once a week.
It's not reasonable to go every time this happens.

Thankyou 5MadThings I'll go and look...

Could you be induced?

I would absolutely hate that and would do almost anything to avoid it.

If you labour that quick surely they wouldn't have time to give you the antibiotics anyway? Could you birth at home then transfer for monitoring? Or have another swab as my consultant told me that they didn't routinely swab everyone as it can come and go so maybe a more up to date swab would aid the decision making process!! Good luck

www.gbss.org.uk/

Lots of good up to date information on this website.

DS1 was born with group b strep pneumonia which very nearly killed him and me. I went on to develop septicaemia.

Personally I wouldn't consider anywhere other than hospital. Anything to avoid the hell we went through with DS1.

Had antibiotics in labour with DC2, which is preferable to painful injections of antibiotics in the baby who had to have a cannulae for regular antibiotics. Also affected ability to feed naturally and took 8 weeks to be able to latch on and feed comfortably due to breathing difficulties.

Pregnant now with DC3. And my main concern is making sure I have the antibiotics. Nothing else is important to me.

You'll have plenty of people come along and say the odds are great and just forget the antibiotics, or others who will say stick garlic up your foof and don't worry.

There are also mothers on here who have lost their babies.

Luckily for you, you have the information you need, that you are carrying group b strep and can make a decision.

Thankyou nevergoogle that must have been awful,and is something I obviously want to avoid at all costs.
I am a worrier by nature and would never assume 'it won't happen to us'.

If I knew I'd make it to the hospital,I wouldn't still be considering a home birth,despite having trained as a Doula and advocating it in most circumstances.

I intend to ask for another swab,but I know they aren't always happy to do them as it can come and go.

There is also the issue of not getting the full 4hrs on IV AB's but they would at least try and we'd be in the right place if anything did go wrong.

yeah, i'm not sure repeating swabs tells you much. if you have it once, you may or may not have it when you deliver.

I can understand wanting to avoid an induction. The only reason I suggested it was because of your distance from hospital. I don't want to upset you, but I know a lady who sadly lost her baby, partly due to group b Strep and as much as I would hate to be induced (having been so before) I would consider it in your shoes. But I'm not you, and you need to discuss it with the hospital and make the right decision for you.

Good luck.

Thankyou George I will bear it in mind.

I don't understand group strep b and the protocol...I tested positive for it after ds1 was born (thought I had repeated thrush), was told to mention it when I next pg so I did (5 months after positive test). I was then not retested at any point in my second pg and had no conversations about antibiotics with midwives or consultants, and luckily went on to have intervention free water birth with ds2 (although I thought I should be given the antibiotics as a precautionary measure). Now pg with dc3 and no mention of testing for group strep b at all, but in similar position to OP in that we live 45 mins from hospital and baby is due mid jan, we live in rural Scotland where winter conditions can be terrible. I am worried about having baby on the motorway stuck in by snow and ice...but midwife is doing her best to avoid a home birth. No idea really what to do.

This baby is due at the beginning of December,so I'm also worried about weather conditions on the roads...although we aren't in deepest Scotland

Argh.

Its a difficult choice to make, I have been induced with all mine as I always go overdue, three weeks with ds3!

Induction carries risks as well, so its a case of balancing risks and seeing which one seems best for you personally.

Read up, chat to your midwife,'maybe ask for another swab.

The fact that your waters don't break till just before delivery is a plus point I think as the lomger waters are broken before delivery the higher the chance of infection for baby.

In a similar position so watching with interest but only 12 weeks pregnant at present but v fast labour -( 1.5hours 3cm to birth) with first baby and group b strep in first pregnancy so midwife has advised I will need antibiotics this time.

I have been reading up and it did say if its less than an hours from waters breaking to delivery the risk of group b strep passing to the baby reduces significantly.

The midwife suggested that I went down on home birth list but if I thought I was in labour to head in if possible but if I ended up having the baby at home to take the baby in for observation.