Streb B testing

[18yearsoftrying]

Worth doing privately or not?

M/w and GP both said I would be tested on NHS as standard at 32 weeks.....consultant said I'd have to do it privately, that it isn't standard because "most of us have got it, it'll only show up positive if we've got it at the time of testing & there's nothing we can do about it anyway".

I'm a little baffled....am now 36 wks preg so have I missed the boat anyway??

Hi unless you have a previous history you dont get screened . I had gbs in my previous pregnancy and will only have screening at 36 weeks in this one . The issue with gbs is you can test pos/neg and the result is incorrect as it comes and goes . I asked for antibiotics again through this labour but was told not unless i show positive again or if your previous baby was ill as a result . Try not to worry about it as there are enough stresses in pregnancy .

They happened to test me for GBS randomly in pregnancy no.1 and was +ve. Tested again at 36 weeks, again +ve. Had a course of ABs and had to fight for them during the labour - tested +ve again during labour.

Pregnancy no.2 Ive been tested three times and have tested +ve every time. Im.now 38 weeks and havent had any ABs yet but will be fighting for them during the labour.

Tbh now I know what it is (never heard of it pre pregnancy), I think everyone should be tested at 36 weeks but accept that isnt going to change. I know a few Nurses and MWs that have said they will be paying to be tested privately due to the effects ot can have on the baby if +ve at birth.

36 weeks is actually a really good time to get it done. Strep B is very common and it also comes and goes - the later you get it done the better, as the test result is more likely to be valid at the time of labour. However - obviously - if you wait too long, you might not get your results back in time!

I had it done privately (at 36+5) as it is routinely done where I come from (Canada) and I felt like it would give me one less thing to worry about. I tested negative, there's no guarantee that I'll still be negative on the day labour starts but I know there's a very high chance of it. As rubyboo says though, there is a reason why they don't test routinely in the UK - the risks of Group B strep infection really are remote, and the test may not be all that useful due to the nature of the bacteria - and if you don't get the test done you shouldn't beat yourself up about it!

If you do decide to get the test done, I used this lab: www.tdlpathology.com/test-information/test-service-updates/group-b-strep

The testing pack came very quickly and I got a text with the results, 3 working days after I'd sent them the samples.

Wow, thankyou for all the info! I didn't realise how quite serious it can be until I read some online info this morning.

I have contacted the company suggested & hopefully will hear back soon.

I just have had so much contradictory advice from so many "professionals" throughout the pregnancy that actually I have a list going now of who has said what.

A friend of a friend lost their first baby (stillborn) because the infection wasn't picked up in regular urine tests (it was in mine) so she didn't have AB during labour that would have meant the infection not getting passed on. Not to frighten you, just saying what happened. I think it's about thirty five quid to do that private test.

GBS is not tested on the NHS, I am a GBS Carrier, I lost my first baby to GBS at the age of 17, they never tested me or nothing i had never heard of it till it was too late, he passed away at 36 hours old from GBS Septicaemia :(, I then went on to have another little boy who i fought for to recieve AB during labour i got them and he stayed in for 5 days he was prem but hes now 3 and doing great although we tested postive, my 3rd pregnancy of which was my little girl we both tested negative for GBS and she still had AB and is doing just fine, ive recently found out im pregnant but since yesterday morning have been bleeding :( scan showed baby in right place ect but now waiting for swab results to come back as GBS can affect you in many ways, i also have choosen not to breastfeed as GBS may colenise in your brea
st milk.. xx hope everything goes well for you and fight to get your ABs, Better to be safe then sorry... x

My (NHS) midwife told me that if you've ever had your urine or a swab of your vagina sent to a lab it will be routinely tested for then (which I did in this pregnancy, once for a suspected UTI and once for mystery bleeding). But otherwise it's not tested for because the result isn't a reliable for the state of play when you give birth. But if you do have it, the closer to your due date the better. But obviously you have to weigh that up with getting the results in time.

I decided to go with the NHS on this one, but mainly because I knew I'd had 2 samples sent off to a lab at some point and that was enough to alleviate my fears.... Although it was a little while ago now. I'm 39 weeks now!

Thankyou all for your posts. Some heartbreaking stories.

Spoke to m/w today (a different one) having paid the £35 last week to have it done privately & she said that in my area it IS standard NHS protocol & I should have asked around a bit more

I asked the 2 Consultants, 3 GP's, the pharmacist, the Sonographer, the phlebotomist, 2 midwives.....how can they all be so contradictory?!

Results came back + so will need AB's. Am grateful that I tested regardless of cost.

I'm now 36+5 & at my 36 week mw appt some test results were missing. It was only after she got on the phone there and then that she found out one of the tests had come back as strep b +. She wasn't going to do anything about it because the hospital she's aligned to "doesn't treat it until after the birth"; however, fortunately the hospital I'm going to does and so I am now on a week's course of ABs.....she told me not to Google strep b cos of all the horror stories you read so am going with that advice at the moment. ...

this makes me really cross. A friend's first baby nearly died because of GP B strep septicaemia, 2 subsequent babies she was treated and was fine. As a result my group of friends have all opted to be tested and in a few cases were positive, resulting in the NHS making a huge fuss about it, one friend not allowed a home birth, another kept in several days for monitoring etc, because if they know you have it then they are negligent if they don't give the antibiotics to reduce the chance of transmission and then monitor the baby, yet they don't test, or even tell you that the test is available. Presumably someone crunched the numbers and concluded that saving x number of babies was not worth y cost, but I doubt very much that that is any comfort to a grieving family.
I know that I was completely needlessly tested in my most recent pregnancy for HIV, hepatitis, sickle cell, blood group etc etc (because MW agreed I had tested clear in first pregnancy and had no risk factors) but there doesn't seem to be any system to employ common sense over what is needed for an individual, I couldn't pick and choose, if I wanted my blood count ( which I did as history of anaemia) I had to have the full package, then there is no money in the pot for GBS later...
OP, I'm glad you know, so appropriate precautions will be taken.

A friend of mine told me about this a week ago, as I had never heard about it myself.
She did the test privately at 36/37 weeks and it came back positive.
They now put a note onto her chart. Apparently they intend to give her antibiotics during labour.
Considering the risk to your baby during "natural" labour I defo will get the private one done myself too.