Group b strep scare and midwives won't listen !!! Need some advice please !!

[Masonsmummy2016]

Hi, with my first pregnancy I developed group b strep whilst in labour as waters were broken for 33 hours before little man arrived, he was on antibiotics for 2 days in the hospital but at 3 weeks he developed group b strep (septicaemia in the blood) and was in hospital for a week and we nearly lost him... thankfully he's a happy 10 months old now) ... but I am 28 weeks pregnantes with little boy number 2 and I was told if I was to have another baby I would need to be on Iv antibiotics whilst in labour ... I've spoken to my midwives and they don't seem bothered... they said they will see what happens when Im in labour, but I was told I would need it by one hospital and since we have moved up north they are saying it's a wait and see... surely it's best as a precaution if I've developed it before and the fact my little man had it at 3 weeks to give the antibiotics whilst in labour this time round? I'm scared it will happen again and I can't go through another scare of possibly loosing my baby ... how do I get them to listen to me and see I'm worried and scared and not just brush it off like it's nothing important... I've seen first hand the problems it can cause and how lucky we are that little man pulled through, just so scared and no clue how to make them see the worry and help me ...

Thanks for any advice x

With respect, OP, you are only 28 weeks. Even if you were tested for GBS at this point, it would not be an accurate indicator as GBS is transient in nature meaning it could be present today and not at time of labour and vice versa. Ideally, you would get a swab taken at 35-37 weeks, which would be predictive for around 5 weeks and will indicate if GBS will be present at time of labour. You could consider discussing this at your next appointment.

I understand your fears around this, you had a very traumatic experience with your first son. However, receiving antibiotics in labour can also have reprecussions on your labour and should only be given if necessary. As such, your midwives are most likely reluctant to make any decisions at this early point. The best thing you can do for now hang tight and trust that the correct decision wil be made closer to the time.

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy.

Hi,
I debated posting this because I didn't want to upset you but then thought about the advice I would want in your situation. In Feb this year I lost my daughter to pneumonia most likely caused by group b strep infection picked up when my waters broke. After almost 20hrs they lost her heartbeat and I had a crash section but the drs were unable to resuscitate her.
Advice is that if you have had a baby with GBS infection you MUST be given antibiotics 4 hourly during labour once your waters break - you don't need to be tested again. Once a previous baby has been affected by strep b that's a big enough risk factor to ensure you receive antibiotics in the next labour.
Please ask to speak to another midwife or consultant about this - although it's unlikely you will have another baby with GBS the statistics go down from 1 in 300 (for any pregnant woman - higher if you are a known carrier) to 1 in 2500 if you are given the antibiotics. I honestly don't want to scare you but GBS has ruined my life and i wish someone had told me about the risks and how testing/antibiotics could save my babies life - things would be so very different now.
Good luck with the future I'm positive everything will be fine for you & your baby but please demand the antibiotics even if just as a precaution xx

Also, just to say, if the Enriched Medium Culture is not not offered at 35-37 weeks, in my experience, it would be expected that a woman with a previous history of GBS would be offered antibiotics in labour.

The group b strep support website www.gbss.org has lots of valuable information and statistics x

So sorry to hear that, I have an appointment tomorrow with the midwife I'll bring it all up again, thank you for replying... I'd rather be aware and I appreciate the advice xx

With regards to testing I was told that unless I pay for the privately I won't be offered it so I'm looking into having it done privately but as you said it can come and go in pregnancy but the scare with little man makes me think it's 100% worth testing if they aren't going to do it for me.

Thanks all for getting back to me on this xx