Group B strep

[ElaineC82]

Hi ladies, just been told I have GBS - picked up on a swab I recently had I'm now 28 weeks, the midwives have said nothing to worry about many people have this etc etc - and antibiotics in labour are needed, however, I've committed the pregnancy sin and I've been Googling - now I'm terrified, terrified of adverse outcomes etc, really no good for someone who has severe anxiety already, just wondering if anyone has any experience of this and has had a straight forward time? TIA x

Hello I don't have any experience of it however I googled it the other day after hearing about it on here. Honestly, there's so many things you can worry about in pregnancy the mind boggles.

Hopefully your antibiotics will clear it up and all will be fine. I'd take your cue form the midwife - if she's not concerned then your on track. Good luck!

I had this. When I went into labour I was told to come straight in to hospital rather than staying at home. As soon as DD was born we were both given antibiotics for 48 hours then allowed home. No problems. The fact that they have picked it up should reassure you as once it is known that you have the infection it is straightforward to deal with. Hope this helps.

I’ve had StrepB in all my pregnancies

DS1 I didn’t know and he got poorly after birth it was scary but he wasn’t very very sick like some
Cases you hear about just required a week in hospital and antibiotics.

Ds2 it showed on a swab so when I was induced (not gbs related because my placenta failed) I had antibiotics in my induction. Ds and I had to stay in 24 hours for observations but all was fine so got to go home

Dd army consultant decided to treat me as StepB positive regardless (and it showed in an early swab) as I had been in two other pregnancies and had a poorly child (she said some guidance had changed so I could have antibiotics in Labour without a positive swab just to be safe) I was swabbed during Labour which they tell you as positive too: again just in 24 hours for observation

Me came back
Positive

I had GBS for my first. Baby was fine, it was only picked up because the hospital was running a clinical trial and asked permission to swab every mother in labour. Came back positive after she was born.

Second had I laboured naturally I would have been given ab’s purely because of they positive first test. As it was I had an elcs so not necessary.

gBS can come and go as your immune system deals with it, so there’s a chance you will be -ve by 40 weeks. Which is why the NHS don’t have protocols to test in pregnancy.

I had a positive swab for group b strep in my first pregnancy. Had antibiotics during labour. Baby was fine.

I chose not to have antibiotics during labour with my second having read a bit more about the risks and prevalence of group b strep (as pp said, loads of women don't even know they have it). Agreed to stay in for 24 hours after birth for baby to be monitored. She was fine.

If you're very worried go for the antibiotics during labour, or maybe ask for another swab nearer your due date.

I had this for my second pregnancy (baby is now 3 months), didn't even know about it with my first.

Like you I googled and was pretty stressed about it, kinda freaking out. Being pregnant in Covid was hard enough and then I felt like this on top of it was even worse. However it actually turned out better in some ways. This was because we were allowed in to the birthing unit as soon as contractions started so I never had to make the decision of when to go in later on/if my contractions were close enough together. For me it made the birth less stressful as we live 30 mins away from the hospital and in my first labour I was worried about traffic (as we went in during Friday rush hour in the end!!)

I had all the antibiotics during labour and just had to stay in for 12 hours after the birth for observation and could go home as normal. No problems. I had the cannula in my hand for the birth but it wasn't as annoying as I thought it would be and successfully had the water birth I wanted.

Call the hospital if you need reassurance and they will tell you how it works there, which will hopefully help. As someone else said it's best that they picked up on it now. Good luck!

I had it with my first, they gave me antibiotics for it while in labour before baby was born. Now pregnant again with second and have gbs again so will have to get antibiotics when I’m in labour. I was worried that I might have a quicker labour/birth this time and won’t get the antibiotics on time before baby arrives but midwife just said to come in straight away as soon as there are any signs of labour.

Hello

I had it also picked up on a swab in my first pregnancy but no antibiotics were given in labour. This was an error.

My daughter was extremely poorly when she was born and required to be in intensive care for 2 weeks as developed meningitis as a result of Group B strep. My daughter is now fine and a healthy soon to be 9 year old but we had a hard few years due to various issues as a result.

I'm in tomorrow for a section with my 2nd due to anxiety regarding the group b strep as I have had it before and my daughter was ill I'm getting treated as I have it.

I would always take antibiotics even just on the off chance as I would never like to go through that again. I never in millions years thought it would happen to us.

My sister has 4 children and had tested positive in her first 2 pregnancies for antibiotics for the 1st and didn't have time for the 2nd but was totally fine.

So in my family alone we have experience with both outcomes.

I'm in no way trying to scare you or anything like that but I genuinely didn't think I needed to worry.

It took us 8 years to decide to try for a 2nd child but we've did it and I'm so excited to meet her tomorrow.

Take care and try not to worry xxx

I had it with DD, wasn't in labour long enough for the full dose of the antibiotics so stayed in hospital for obs. Dd was absolutely fine.

I’ve had GBS in all 3 pregnancies and had antibiotic IV in all 3 labours and had no issues whatsoever. Try not to worry

You have to see it as being really lucky that it got picked up. This means your baby will be safe.

Absolutely agree with the PP - you are very lucky it has been picked up xx

I had a swab done during labour for some reason I can’t remember. I found out about a week after DD was born that I had it, we didn’t have any issues.

I had this with my 1st pregnancy. It was found as I had PROM and I was swabbed. I'm not sure if this what caused my waters to break early or not. I had iv antibiotics during labour and dc have 5 days of iv antibiotics after birth. He is a healthy nearly 10 year old!

Hi everyone, when strep b positive did anyone have any symptoms? I have ordered a private test as I read somewhere that symptoms can be a swollen and red vagina, which I currently have (am 37 weeks) and is often mistaken for thrush. I had "thrush" with my first pregnancy when heavily pregnant but never got any of the discharge and swabs for thrush would always come back negative. I don't think they ever tested me for strep b so want to rule it out this time round...

If they tested everyone then about 1 in 4 pregnant women would be found to have it! So in the huge majority of cases it doesn't do want harm. I turned down antibiotics because I didn't want to mess up my newborn's gut bacteria and had strep B monitoring instead - taking baby's temperature every 3 hours for 18 hours after birth.

@Sosocold in my Trust if a swab was sent for testing and there was GBS it would have been detected. You don't just test for individual conditions, they see what bugs it grows:

www.nursingtimes.net/clinical-archive/tissue-viability/culture-and-sensitivity-01-01-2007/

@Sosocold I don't think most women have symptoms? I think it's actually a totally normal harmless bacteria that lives in the vaginas of about 40% of women. It poses no risk to the women. The risk is to the newborn only. However, as with everything, I suppose it's possible that some women do react to it.

OP, since they've picked it up it's not a problem. You'll get ABs in labour and this will protect your baby. It's the newborns whose mothers were never swabbed who can be at risk.

The NHS does not offer routine testing for all mothers, but anyone can pay £40 ish for a private test.

@LBTM I'm interested in this - can you tell me more about where you got your info? I thought it was the case that newborns didn't have gut bacteria at all? I thought they picked up bacteria on their way through the birth canal and that this was ingested and then formed their first gut bacteria. If that's the case, then if the baby is exposed to ABs in labour through the mother, and THEN gets exposed to the gut bacteria, wouldn't some of it stand a chance of surviving the ABs, as the supply of ABs (through the mother) would be immediately cut off after birth? I'm theorising here! Interested in knowing more though...

@Sosocold I don’t think there are any symptoms, you can only detect it in swabs/urine samples

Feistysheep - I assumed that ABs given to the mother in labour would be passed on to the baby through the placenta and prevent all the good (and bad) bacteria in the birth canal establishing in the baby. I had looked up things to do with gut bacteria in relation to c-sections when DS1 was breech but I was induced with DS2 and the consultant just said "we'll break your waters now and put you on an AB drip", so I didn't have time to do much research about it at the time! I just had to make an immediate decision about ABs.

Swabbing at 28 weeks doesn’t mean you’ll have it at term, it can come and go. I mean, it doesn’t instantly disappear, but it’s perfectly possible to be negative at 28 weeks and positive at 40, or positive at 28 weeks and negative at 40. Chances are fair you won’t know if you are + or - on the day your baby is born.

Even if you didn’t choose to or weren’t able to get the treatment, if I remember rightly it increases your baby’s chance of catching GBS from 0.1% to 0.4%. And of those small percentages, small percentages become ill. That’s without treatment.

I had it in my second pregnancy but chose not to have the treatment as long as I didn’t have additional risk factors (prematurity, broken water for a long time etc) because it would never have been possible for me without completely changing everything else in the birth. My baby was fine, but I knew what to watch out for particularly regarding late onset.

Don’t worry, decide if you’re able to get the treatment, know what to watch out for in your newborn, and try not to give it too much headspace.

Thanks everyone for your comments.

OP, I hope all goes well for you x