Group B Strep Support Thread

[Mummyemmy09]

Hi I posted several weeks ago but I am starting to worry again that ive been mis informed by the mw and that my baby is at risk. I started doing some more research and I read that gbs found in urine is worse then when it's found using a swob, I'm worried that my mw isn't taking the proper precautions and that because it was found in my urine that I have an infection that should be treated. I don't have another mw appt until the beg of October, do you think I should phone my mw and see what she thinks? It wasn't actually her that told me, it was another mw.

When I first found out I was concerned but not overly worried but now for some reason I have started to freak out a bit.

Emma x

[7th_heaven]

i had gbs in my urine earlier this pregnancy. it actually was abx resistant. after the first round of abx the mw suggested i go on a second round. i asked her what would happen if i left it untreated- since i was asymptomatic(had no pain, fever, etc) she said, "i don't know"

a few things i thought about-
1. gbs comes and goes in people ALL the time and they don't even know it.
2. scanning for gbs in urine is a relatively new protocol(at least where i live) and some offices don't do it at all!
3. since gbs is something that comes and goes in people and they are unaware- what is the danger in babies?- it comes from babies contracting it as they travel through the birth canal.

so merely being pregnant with a baby while having a gbs infection isn't going to bother the baby. i had doubts earlier but have come to see that there was nothing to worry about.

incidently my urine tested negative for gbs at 28 weeks- without me going on the second round of abx. so i kind of deemed the abx unnecessary. gbs will come and go.
it's worrisome to me that gbs is abx resistant. wonder if all the unnecessary abx is causing this.

[Mummyemmy09]

I am asymptomatic too and would like to avoid antib's if I can, I guess I'm just worried that if it is a uti then that could harm the baby rather than the actual gbs if that makes sense. I guess they would've offered them to me at the time if they thought I needed them. I think I'll just phone my mw tomorrow anyway just for reassurance.

Emma x

[7th_heaven]

i actually caved to the first round of abx bc i read online that utis can cause miscarriage. but when i found out that it was gbs and that there wasn't a correlation to miscarriage i decided to go with helping my immune system kick it on it's own.

[Nikki_d72]

I just had my follow up yesterday after losing my boys to pPROM. I knew I tested positive for GBS on admission and the histology done on the placenta has confirmed its presence there and in the membranes too, so it's likely what caused the rupture and also what would have triggered my body to go into labour to rid itself of the infection. BUT my waters had been broken for 6 days so that is most likely route for the infection into the uterus. It will most likely have been the GBS that weakened the membranes and caused the break but the OB thinks this only happened because my cervix had silently dilated enough to expose the membranes and I would agree.

What I'm trying to say is that yes, GBS can indirectly cause miscarriage, most commonly in the form of pPROM and while the mechanisms aren't fully understood, it is probably only a risk if your cervix dilates. Mine was probably due to Incompetent cervix, possibly only due to the twin pregnancy. He also said there wasn't any point in treating it but he did say that if it appears in urine then it indicates a massive overgrowth and something should be done then.

Just thought I'd add my bit of info in the hope it helps inform.

[7th_heaven]

hugs nikki
sorry for your loss.
but thank you for sharing the knowledge. that is definitely something to think about.

[Nikki_d72]

Originally Posted by 7th_heaven

hugs nikki
sorry for your loss.
but thank you for sharing the knowledge. that is definitely something to think about.

Thanks, 7th Heaven, it's been devastating.

I should add that the statistical risk of pPROM in a singleton pregnancy is about 0.7%, so nobody starts panicking. If you are that one in however many it becomes a moot point though but I thought I should point out how rare it is. Nobody fully understands the exact mechanism for the rupture, there seems to be mulitple factors acting together, in my case the GBS + a slightly open cervix weakened the membranes enough to rupture, which allowed the bacteria in. It's not exclusive to GBS carriers by any means though.

For the poster who said she was worried that her baby was swimming in GBS+ve amniotic fluid - your body would go into labour in this case to rid itself of the infection, so you would know about it! It may be worth any of you who know you are GBS+ve just educating yourself in the signs of silent dilation and premature labour (feels very different to full term labour and can sometimes be shrugged off as normal pregnancy discomfort), to be sure it can't get anywhere it's not meant to in the very rare event of the cervix opening. Here's a link about preterm labour signs:
http://www.keepemcookin.com/symptoms.aspx

Sorry, bit OT but a useful resource nonetheless. There isn't much on there about silent dilation (where there are no noticable contractions) but things to look for are plug-like discharge, major change in discharge, back pain or tightenings but admittedly it's pretty hard to spot.

Very unlikely to ever be needed by any of you but thought I'd share it anyway, as it was the combination that got us.

It was good to hear an obstetrician say that it's presence in the vagina was nothing to panic about and there wasn't much point in treating it unless it's in the urine, but he'd still want to put me on anti-b's in labour. We'll have that argument if it ever comes to that point...

[LaraJJ]

Hi all,

I tested positive for group b strep in a swab when I was 10 weeks pregnant. I had another swab last week at 35 weeks and its come back negative.

Will they still encourage me to have anti-biotics in labour do you think?

Thanks

[5ara]

Lara,
In the US they would still want you to have the abx. I don't know about the UK.

[PeanutBean]

Hi all! Sorry I've not been on the forum in a while.

Mummyemmy - things to note, urine is meant to be sterile therefore the presence if any kind of bacteria is a compromise or normal functioning and would be considered a uti. Whether or not you would take abx for a uti normally (in or out of pregnancy) is individual. I personally don't have them, though I can't remember when I last had a uti, but did when I was a teen and it went into my kidneys. I've seen plenty of women on here suffering with utis in pregnancy which have caused them problems beyond the normal irritation and so have had abx. Where that bacteria is GBS the chance of an infected baby is increased as it is considered to be a more virulent presence. The links at the front will give you the figures about the increase but this is still a chance factor and it may only really be an increased risk in collaboration with other factors. It is very imperfectly understood what underlies infection. I would suggest you read upma bit more and make up your mind based on what you find. At the end of the day no-one can predict the outcome of any action so you need to do whatever makes YOU feel most secure.

7th heaven - in the UK our pee from our booking in appointments is tested for GBS. It's the only routine GBS test we have and is based on the raised risk factor of GBS presence. Very worrying about abx resistant GBS and I agree is probably inevitable in time from all the abx overuse.

Lara - the guidelines are that a negative swab in late pregnancy confers NO indication to have abx in labour however in practise this has been seen to not be the case. I heard recently of a lady being threatened with social services (complete unfounded nonsense) for pushing ahead with her homebirth plans and refusing abx for her baby. She had a negative swab at 37 weeks but was still facing the same pressure to have abx. If you choose to go against the grain you need to be committed and strong!

Nikki - Thanks for your input. I've read a few times about infection (not just GBS) causing a chemical release (I forget of what) that triggers labour and weakens membranes. I think it is one of those most sad effects of a bad infection, as you say perhaps when in combination with other factors. But there's nothing to be done about it in advance I wouldn't say. We can't all have abx all pregnancy! A sad rare fact of pregnancy.