Group B Strep

[LittlePotSoonHot]

I have group b strep in my urine and am currently on antibiotics. I've been told I will need to be on an antibiotic drip in labour. Does anybody have any experience of this? My main concern is the risk to the baby in utero now and at birth. I'm unclear really about what this means. Thanks so much for any advice

Thanks! I'll read that later. Glad they were good to talk to.

I had Group B strep and was given antibiotics during labour and the birth and baby was fine :)
If they try to send you home when you're in labour, tell them you need antibiotics as you have strep B and they should keep you in.

I had gbs in both my pregnancies.
Ds 1 I didn't have antibiotics and he was fine.
Ds2 I did have antibiotics and he was also fine.

I had a uti during pregnancy with my son and swan showed strep b. I was given intravenous antibiotics during labour. My next pregnancy again I was given intravenous antibiotics even though I hadn’t been swabbed again, I was just grateful it had been picked up and treated appropriately.

Hi, i’d Been diagnosed with gbs in pregnancy and had antibiotics during labour, dd was born via CS so risk was supposedly very low but she still was infected and was diagnosed with pneumonia caused by GBS about 24 hours after her birth (beautiful, full-term, good-weight baby but v sleepy, midwife picked up breathing probs and checked her file, noticed GBS, dd needed a lumbar puncture and chest x-Ray, GBS can cause meningitis) so my story is that it’s good to check, be aware, be vigilant, GBS does kill babies in a minority of cases, DD made a full recovery and is now 10, not every child is so lucky.

@kitty1013 Just re-reading this thread and wanted to ask: how soon after birth did your DS show symptoms of GBS? I'm getting myself in a bit of a tizz about recognising symptoms. My understanding is that there are three hurdles for babies to get over before they're fully in the clear: 1) the first 24 hours 2) the first month 3) the first three months. I'm so scared that I might miss any signs of contraction and also scared that my baby will be affected at all. Basically, I'm having a panic! Any reassurances/experiences very welcome and appreciated.

@SaltyLemons we were only home for 24 hrs when went back in. So he must have been 2 or 3 days old . Slightly hazy memory as the following 2 weeks in hospital were such a blur!

He wasn't feeding and wasn't breathing normally.
Please don't worry though just look out for signs. No one will think you're overreacting with a young baby if you take him/her in to be checked.
But equally don't panic; I dithered for a while at home and he was still ok in the end. Xx

@kitty1013 thank you xx

@devonrosie I had gbs and was still allowed a water birth. However I wasn't allowed to labour in their special relaxing unit and had to be on the labour ward (where they had one tub and I managed to nab that room) although my dh didn't even manage to get the plug in before I pushed.....
Barely had 20 minutes of antibiotics via iv. So they just had to check dd's blood sugar levels for the next three feeds to make sure she didn't have it!
But I was also allowed to say no to checking her, but tbh they don't really tell you too much about the symptoms and its just so serious I rather not risk it.

That's good to know @Emmafh3 - I might ask them to do that if they don't offer

I had GBS, injections every 4 hours, but a water birth in a midwife-led unit. Just above the normal risk profile for the unit, but they were willing to look after me.

So it is worth asking and making sure that your request is passed to the midwife in charge. I’d been dumped on the early labour unit and when a doctor came and said “I gather you want to be induced.” I replied very crossly that I didn’t want to be induced, I wanted to be on the midwife led unit and to have a water birth. And the supervisor of midwives came and stood in my field of vision - I was on all fours - and said that I was outside their usual risk profile, but if I understood that, she was willing for me to move to the midwife led unit.

With GBS you risk getting put on the consultant-led pathway and you may need to be assertive to get the birth you want - if it is something different.