Oh what fresh indignity is this?

[PervyMuskrat]

I'm 35w pregnant with DC2 and have just checked babycenter for the latest development stage and apparently between now and 37w I can expect a vaginal and rectal swap for group B strep

Please reassure me that this is because I was on the US website and that the lovely NHS midwife isn't going to shove a cotton bud where the sun doesn't shine!

You're right, doesn't happen in the UK. Worth doing the test though, you can order a free kit online and do the yucky bit yourself, then post the cotton buds to the lab. It's about £30 for them to process the swabs. If you're found to be a carrier, you'd need iv antibiotics during labour which would prevent your baby becoming ill.

Not routine in the UK.

Don't read the American one!

Made that error myself a few times- totally different slightly OTT medical appointments.
Thanks to my rampaging superstition I can't bring myself to read past where I am (30 weeks) but here is the link for the UK. Fingers crossed no cotton bud in the back door!!
www.babycentre.co.uk/s1001632/35-weeks-pregnant

Thanks for the reassurance (and the info). I didn't know if it had somehow become standard in the last 3 years and I was going to have a nasty shock at the next appointment!

I did it to myself. You know, because the whole thing just wasn't monstrous enough at that point. There was a big Group B strep worry in the news at that point, so I dutifully sent off for my swap kit. It wasn't THAT bad, but I think I'd prefer not to have to reach around at 8 months pregnant to swab my own bottom again.

I wish it was standard here, though. My DC1 was really sick as a newborn with GBS, it would all have been so preventable if we had known in advance that I was a carrier.

Sorry to hear that somesunnysunday. Hope your DC is ok now

He is fine now, a perfectly healthy 5 year old. But the first few weeks of his life were scary.

I asked my midwife if i could have a group b strep test, she just gave me the swab thing (vaginal swab only) and a urine sample bottle l, i went in the loo at the medical practice and did it myself. She sent it off immediately and it was free. Glad i had it, personally, as, although clear for strep, it picked up i have bacterial vaginosis, which i had no idea about x

Its not standard here, but it should be.

I had it as well after reading up about it. But it's a bit of a moot point, the bacteria is transient so you can test positive one day and then test negative the next and vice versa. Different hospitals have different guidelines in the uk. Some insist you have the iv drip on the labour ward if you've ever tested positive. Others only use antibiotics if you are showing signs of an actual infection (temp/discharge).

I'm glad I had it, and I'm glad it was negative (at 36 wks) but really it was false peace of mind and probably better that midwives and mums just remain vigilant to signs of infection.

GBS comes and goes, so a positive test early in your pregnancy doesn't mean you'll still have GBS at your baby's birth. And a negative test doesn't necessarily mean you won't have GBS at a later stage or a couple weeks later. So if you do test, don't just check once and leave it unless you've checked around the last week or so...

That's what I've been told though. Never bothered to test in my 4 PGs though.

The reason it's not routine here is because it would mean women and babies being treated unnecessarily with antibiotics.

A positive test does not mean you will be gbs positive at birth, nor does a negative test mean you will still be negative at birth. Thousands of babies are born to unknown gbs positive women - a small percentage of their babies will be symptomatic, and an even smaller percentage will become ill, meaning a huge percentage never show any signs and are absolutely fine.

I had an incidental finding of gbs during a smear a while before I fell pregnant. I wasn't retested in pregnancy and would have refused if offered

Its standard testing here in France (vaginal swab only) right at the end of the pregnancy.

First pregnancy I tested postitive so had antiobiotics during labour (plus was running a temp so was well needed)

Second pregnancy tested negative.

We get internals every month here so a swab was no big deal

Internals every month! Genuinely curious as to what the medical need for that is, and why it's not considered necessary in the UK. I find it fascinating how countries differ in their approach to pregnancy and childbirth.

A positive test does not mean you will be gbs positive at birth, nor does a negative test mean you will still be negative at birth.

This is why I thought they did not test routinely here: simply put, it doesn't actually protect that many people and subjects others to needless anxiety and medication.
It's like in the USA they prescribe progesterone at the drop of a hat, not to the handful of those in the UK deemed to need it. Our miscarriage and infertility rates are not significantly different ... cynically I would say it's because if you're paying directly (rather than through tax) you expect to 'see something' for your money in a different way to if you're getting your healthcare the same as everyone else in which case you want 'what works and no interfering'.

I got given the swabs at a routine midwife appointment to do with my urine test.
my two young DC thought it was very funny

I had this done in the us, was unpleasant although compared to the joys to come I hadn't thought of it recently! Anybody else think being pg/childbirth is the best insight we'll get into the life of a barnyard animal? I certainly felt like a moo cow after the ob/gyn had failed to find my cervix after two good rummages while in labour! Why am I doing this again?!? Oh yes, babies are lovely.

The impact of potentially exposing a third of women (and babies) to iv antibiotics would be likely to cause significantly more harm than not screening for gbs routinely.

Ie more women would be exposed to the risk anaphylaxis, antibiotic resistance (which would impact on increased problems for sick babies too). Plus the medicalisation of birth could be massively increased leading to more monitoring, caesareans etc etc.

I can fully understand why those women affected would want to see screening as routine but looking at the bigger picture it is likely to cause more problems.

Monthly internals to check the cervix. Highly medicalised here.

First pregnancy I just had monthly internals plus 3 scans.

Second pregnancy I had fewer internals (bi-monthly I think) but my dr had a scanner in his surgery so I had monthly scans (just quick ones to check heart beat and liquid). Twas nice.

Oh and first pregnancy was told that everyone is tested for diabetes (horrible experience). Fortunately for the second I was told it wasnt necessary anymore.

And I had my bloods taken monthly cos I tested negatively for toxoplasmos. I feel like I spend my life at the Drs!

It's standard here in guernsey happily.

I now live and Germany and apparently they routinely screen here, I'm currently on PG #5 and I'm going to once again decline/refuse the testing. I don't find it has enough evidence to convince me of the benefits. First off, it'll just add to the worry and become another thing to add to the list of things they want to scare me with. I don't like the idea of antibiotics just for the sake of it. That's just my view.

What is the benefit of checking the cervix each month? What is the MW/OB looking for? Sounds unnecessarily intrusive to me.

I now live and Germany and apparently they routinely screen here, I'm currently on PG #5 and I'm going to once again decline/refuse the testing. I don't find it has enough evidence to convince me of the benefits. First off, it'll just add to the worry and become another thing to add to the list of things they want to scare me with. I don't like the idea of antibiotics just for the sake of it. That's just my view.