group b strep?

[ricschick]

with my 2nd pregnancy which was 8 years ago now I was told I had group b strep so that labour and the following 2 pregnancies I have always had to have the antibiotics before giving birth, I mentioned it today and was told briefly that procedure has changed and they no longer give the antibiotics unless it is detected does anyone no if this is the case? as it was a maternity support worker who told me this, just makes me feel a bit uneasy as the infection can be very bad for babies. and I no they don't just swob you as routine. so I wont no if its present or not?

 

[kimmy04]

I had my son 2.5 years ago and they tested me for it in a routine testing and I was positive for it as well. I was put on antibiotics for it.

 

[armywife11]

They test now and only give you them if present. This is to prevent things from becoming antibiotic resistant (by unneeded use of antibiotics). They check you at least twice for it, possibly more if you have ever tested positive.

 

[ricschick]

oh that's good as long as they test me that's fine as I would prefer not to have the antibiotics tbo as it always leads on to intervention with the hormone drip which is horrible.

 

[Luvspnk31]

Agree with the others. I'm in the US ( Indiana ) and I was tested with all my pg's (4). Only tested pos with 2 of them. Here they only give the antibiotics if pos test.

 

[dan-o]

I got told this both times but when it got near to my due dates they suddenly changed their minds and said abs were always given! Strange!
I had a private swab done last time to make sure as I wanted a homebirth, turned out I was still GBS + so did definitely need the abs!
Funny thing is they told me I wasn't in labour both times, so I didn't get them in quick enough anyway, either time!

 

[dan-o]

oh that's good as long as they test me that's fine as I would prefer not to have the antibiotics tbo as it always leads on to intervention with the hormone drip which is horrible.

If you're in the uk they don't test you. Hence why I paid for the private swabs. It's not expensive and you do it yourself then send it off and get the results a few as later. I did mine at 36-37w

 

[LovelyChubbly]

As dan-o says, the UK doesn't routinely test for GBS, though lots of developed countries do.

Worse still, many times within the NHS, the midwives don't even have access to the proper test to find GBS carriage.

There are places which you can get the test privately (for around £35) and the Group B Strep Support website lists them, plus the NHS trusts offering the sensitive test. I can't post a link, but if you google the initials of the charity (GBSS) there's a button towards the top left "Testing for GBS" with a thermometer or something. Click on that and the list of places where you can get the tests comes up.

 

[LovelyChubbly]

Looking at the GBSS site, there's a page (click the "What is GBS?" tab on the top, then scroll down to "For Pregnant Women" - it gives information about various UK guidelines.

I've pasted some of it below (sorry, still not allowed to post links!):

If GBS has been found during your current pregnancy from a vaginal or rectal swab

• UK guidelines from NICE and from the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists recommend that you should be offered intravenous antibiotics as soon as possible once labour starts and then at regular intervals until the baby is born as this has been shown to be highly effective at preventing GBS infection in newborn babies.

Hope that's useful.

 

[Luvspnk31]

That's crazy that testing is not routine in the UK! For an infection that can be so deadly to a newborn , yet so easy to correct, it , quite frankly , seems negligent.

 

[ricschick]

lovelychubbly thanks very much that's very helpful.

im sure she must be wrong as I was reading that the gbs can come and go so they have to give them as they cant predict if it has come back or not. il be mentioning it to my consultant when I see her and see what she says, seems a bit odd that ive had antibiotics for the last 3 pregnancies and now they have decided to change it??

 

[I Love Lucy]

I just had a baby last year and I was GBS positive so I had to have antibiotics during labor and delivery. They tested me around 36 weeks which seems to be the routine here. They test later in pregnancy because you can test positive at some points and test negative at other points. But I know several of the ladies that I was pregnant with that live in the UK were not tested for GBS as it's not routine.