Diagnosed with Type B Strep and need advice ...

[thetwocultures]

Sorry this is a ramble as I'm sat here in tears.

Just got a call from my midwife who said my urine sample came back with another UTI (2nd one this pregnancy) and also that I have/am a carrier of Type B Strep (which is most likely causing the UTI).

She said I will have antibiotics when I go into labour to reduce the chance of infection in baby.

I have never heard of it before and started researching it and now I'm sat here crying.

I don't understand how/why I've got it? Some pages say it's something that can be passed on during intercourse??? But it's also saying that it is not an STD.

I am terrified my baby will be infected and I'm sending myself into a meltdown, I have read that babies can die from the various infections it causes and also that the ones that do get infected and survive can have lifelong health issues.

Is this really as severe as it reads? My midwife didn't really offer much information. Am I overreacting or am I in the right to feel like this? I feel like a bad mum.

Has anyone got any experience of this?

As others have said, stop googling and don't worry about it. If you need help or more information contact the website above or your midwife.

It really is NOTHING to worry about. Extremely common and as others have said now it is in your notes everyone at the hospital will know about it.

My sister is diagnosed with it. With her first when she found out she had it, they were in for a few days due to other various things and got the antibiotics. With her second, she had a very quick labour and didn't have time for the antibiotics. She didn't give birth until around 8pm, so of course had to stay in overnight but was out before tea time the next day after obs.

I know with random googling, hormones etc it's easy to get upset and stressed about things, but that's honestly just going to make you feel worse. Forget about it, aside from possibly needing antibiotics it won't really have any negative effect.

I'm also positive for group B strep. Have you read the stats around it?

• 1 in 4 women carry group B strep (most of whom are oblivious to it)
• Of those women, only 1 in 200 will pass it on to their baby
• Of those babies, only 3 in 10 will be seriously affected by it (death / disability)

So out of 8000 pregnant women affected by group B strep, only 3 will have babies that are seriously affected - and that's assuming they have no treatment. If the woman receives antibiotics in labour - as you have been promised you will - the chances of passing it onto the baby goes down from 1 in 200 to 1 in 6000.

Yes, your baby will need extra monitoring for this and that's likely to mean staying in hospital longer than you'd like. But in terms of the risks, there are far greater things to worry about than this!

Oops, need to correct myself there - 3 out of 8000 babies generally, not 3 out of 8000 GBS pregnancies. But miniscule odds nonetheless!