bugger - have just had a text message saying i've tested positive for group b strep - what does this mean, and does it mean ds1 is also a carrier/has it?

[Tutter]

sorry, will get round to googling, but wondered if anyone has experience

from the leaflet the lab sent me i can see that i will need i/v antibiotics in labour - will this have implications for other aspects of labour (moving around, using birthing ball/pool)?

and will ds1 (2yo) be affected?

By text...........nice.

Sorry darling, no idea.

Having IV antibiotics will not interefer with any moving around of the use of the pool (it shouldn't but some areas don't like using pool but we do).

About 25% carry group B strep with no problems at all. Will post a couple of link in a mo.

group B strep support site

information for parents

Group b strep is a bacteria that lots of people carry in their vaginas that normally causes no harm. However there is a small risk that this could be passed to your baby when he / she is being born which could cause serious illnesses for them. I must emphasise the risk is small, but that is why they give you the antibiotics (and I think to your dc for a time after they are born too).

The antibiotics will need to be given through a drip I think (correct me if I'm wrong anyone who has had this - it hasn't happened to me) which means a drip being sited in your arm. The antibiotics will take up to half an hour to run in through the drip and they will be given 2-4 times in 24 hours (if I knew what antibiotics they currently use I could be more specific about this!) so for a max of about 2 hours in that time. WHen they are attached you will still be able to move about and stuff but will need to take care you don't pull your drip out. The rest of the time you will just have the little plastic tube iunto your vein plugged off - you could still knock this out but not that easy plus you could get your midwife to bandage it up over the top to help prevent this if you were worried.

Shouldn't have thought it would stop you using the pool but maybe check with your hospital first.

The other thing is that if your waters break you will need to go straight to hospital and stay in until you are in labour to get the antibiotics to prevent the infection being given to your lo.

It is in some ways a bit of an inconvenience I guess and will probably mean you have to stay in hospital a little longer as your lo will need antibiotics. But the main thing is that at least they know about it so they can keep you both safe. You will almost certainly still be able to have the labour and birth you want.

Hope that helps - not happened to me personally but did a lot of research about this when I was pregnant with ds1 as I was off sick for 3 months before he was born!

thanks - that last link is particularly useful in terms of explaining implications

Antibiotics will be given every four hours in labour, (if you decide that you want to have them) depending on which type they use depends on whether you need a drip or they just put it straight in and then cap off the cannula. Your little one should not need any antibiotics if it does not have a temperature or any other concerns. Your ds should not be affected at all. It really is very common and many women deliver each day without antibiotics and without any symptoms or problems. 25% of women have it but only a handful actually are aware that they have it. In the hospital I went to you can't use the pool with a cannula in but I think you may be able to in some areas. It might be worth putting in a complaint about how you were told, completely unacceptable. I'm sure that 9 out of 10 women told by text freak out unnecessarily when they find out.

it was a private lab that did the test and to be fair i gavce my mobile number for the result to be texted to

i.e. i had the choice of being phoned or texted

My hospital wouldnt allow me to plan a waterbirth with my third because of the i.v antibiotics I would need.

(My second baby was back in hospital after 3 days at home - with group b strep he was really poorly and had to have antibiotics he could have died as it was not diagnosed early.) In my 3rd pregnancy I tested positive for group b strep and had big signs highlighted all over my notes that I had it and had to have antibiotics as soon as I went into labour. When I got into the delivery suite I kept saying where's my antibiotic drip I have group b Strep! I never got the antibiotics and my baby girl ended up in scbu for a week with group b strep. If nothing else make sure you get the antibiotics when you are in labour, and make sure they test your baby as soon as s/he is born. In the worst cases babies can get meningitus from it or die from group B strep, it can be very serious. Don't mean to be alarmist but my 2nd boy was so ill with it.

nightmare, 12lbs (and at name)

thanks for advice

I had a similar experience to 12lbs, they just wouldn't give me the anti b's even though it was written all over my notes in highlighter by my obs. I got one lot 4 mins before birth when I was already pushing.

DS was seriously ill in scbu for a week having really strong ab's every few hours (gentomiacin and one other) and in very poor health for ...well he's 2.5yrs now and not the biggest healthiest child.

So I'm sorry for those that believe AB's in labour are not nec, I would rather my baby got 2 doses second hand through me than to get them first hand for many days. Watching your seriously ill newborn screaming having their canula changed at regular intervals, having their heel slashed with a small blade to give blood several times a day all because a stupid 'wait and see' midwife thought she knew better than my obs. (Gosh I still sound bitter after all this time)Also now he has serious breathing problems due to being resuss so many times and from the pressure of the cpap machine.

hello, when my son was two weeks he contracted meningitis through group B strep infection, it was horrendos and so scary at the time and it has taken a while for him to be given the all clear in most areas. i did not know anything about group B before this and now i am fully aware and will ensure i am tested for the next one. meningitis is terrible we were relatively lucky although we nearly lost him and he went through so much. i feel that it is important to challenge opinions and to push to ensure everyone is aware of the consequences of such things. we all have a responsibity i feel for ourselves but also to each others education around these subjects.

omg horrendous stories

am feeling alarmed and a little angry that we're not told about this

i only found out through a pregnancy yoga class

I've got group b strep and had no problems during labour with both DD's. It was passed to neither of them.

Hospital I gave birth in wouldn't let me have a water birth due to strep b, and I was not able to move around as much as I would have liked too. I was still able to use birthing ball though.
I had antibiotics in labour, although unfortunatley there was not enough time for a full dose. We did need to stay in hospital longer afterwards so they could monitor dc more closely, but luckily both DD and DS were fine.
I don't know if they are carriers.
HTH.

I had full antibiotics, you have to be at hospital a certain length of time prior to giving birth. 4 hours if my memory serves me right. I planned to have a water birth and i was told there was no problem with that but didn't have one as my temperature was too high.

After DS was born,I found out I had GBS - he was monitored and was fine.

With DD, I was told I would need to come in straight away if my waters broke first and the intention was for me to have two doses (4 hours apart) of ABs.

Only managed one dose as labour was quite short, and I moved around quite a lot (have a feeling I was monitored quite a bit but moved round a lot - if the monitors came off at all they got reattached later on ).

DD was also fine .

Sorry Tutter, did not mean to scare you.

Yes in most cases the AB's are unnecessary, but, personally, I'm a belts and braces type of girl!