“Maybe” BV in pregnancy

[randommangoandpear]

I had swabs done last week as I suspect I have BV and may have done for a few weeks. Not the classic symptoms but a smell of ammonia.

I called for the results today and the receptionist said the GP wants to talk to me about it, but cannot get me an appointment until Thursday. I pushed for the result and she said it’s come back saying “maybe.”

What the hell does maybe mean? And why am I waiting until Thursday when an untreated BV infection is dangerous to the baby?

I coincidentally have a midwife appointment tomorrow and am tempted to ask her to contact the hospital for advice as they’ll have my results.

This particular GP has already told me she “didn’t want to give me metronidazole in pregnancy” when I first mentioned BV.

Hello OP, there is such thing as a ‘maybe’ with BV! The swab has probably come back as equivocal, which is the lab term for ‘maybe’!

If there’s a sexual health clinic near you, I’d go there instead. I treat pregnant women for BV and thrush all the time would rather give you metronidazole to treat BV than risk you going into early labour with an untreated infection. How many weeks are you? I’ve just rechecked the current guidelines and metronidazole is safe to have in pregnancy.

Also in sexual health, we can look under the microscopy there and then and tell you if you’ve got BV as it’s pretty obvious under microscopy. Wouldn’t make you faff around waiting for swab results to come back! Can also treat based on your symptoms even if I don’t see it under the microscope.

@WetBandits thanks for the reply. I’m 18 weeks.

I think the midwife can probably prescribe it, would you say it’s worth just getting treatment started tomorrow rather than re do swabs and wait for results, which is what I expect the Gp will suggest on Thursday!

Im concerned about the risks associated with untreated BV

@WetBandits oh really? The Gp said as I’m pregnant I had to self swab and they couldn’t use the speculum etc. so the sexual health clinic would be able to diagnose and treat there and then?

Im unsure as to whether I should pursue the midwife tomorrow and ask her to sort it.

I would. If you’ve got the symptoms and your result has come back equivocal then I would probably treat and reswab but tell you to take the treatment whilst we wait for the result.

Untreated BV in pregnancy is associated with premature birth and lower birth weight which is why I prefer to treat it early, you may also find it crops up a couple more times before you give birth due to hormone changes (BV is the biggest pain in the arse, I get it all the time!)

Also make sure you’re not using any fragranced soaps or bubble baths, if you’re having sex I’d probably use condoms for the time being (semen raises vaginal pH and can trigger BV)

Hoping for swift treatment and an easy pregnancy for you

Nope, GP is talking nonsense there I’m afraid! Some GPs seem to be terrified of examining pregnant women. You can absolutely safely have a speculum, even safer if the clinician examining you is experienced enough in examining pregnant women. There’s a very small risk of your waters breaking, but that risk is generally higher the closer you get to term.

Even if you chose not to have a speculum exam knowing that there is that risk, I could do a blind swab and have a peek under the microscope and see what I need to see 🙂

@WetBandits hiya. Midwife was unable to access results but I managed to get them from the receptionist.

this is what it says. I’m just confused by the “significant if pregnant”, does that mean treat as BV if pregnant with meds, or don’t?