Group B Strep.

[Drazic<3]

Hey girls,

I have just been told I am positive for GBS. We paid for a private culture enriched test so the results are pretty reliable.

I was alright about it at first, but as usual, google is not your friend and now I am so worried I might already have the infection in my womb ect... I just wondered if anyone else has been diagnosed and how you are coping? Or if you are worried?

My midwife is trying to get me a consultant appointment over the next few weeks, but she said it will probably be IV anti-biotics. So much for all my water birth/unmedicalised/hypno dream birth!

Thanks in advance for any replies

 

[no5ontheway]

Try not to worry, and remember- google is not your friend during pregnancy!!
Baby can only be at risk from GBS after your waters have broken. I was diagnosed with being a GBS carrier halfway through my 3rd pregnancy, and despite worrying as you are, everything was fine, I had the iv antibiotics during my last 2 labours and it's really not that bad. It's certainly worth it when you think about what it's protecting your baby from.
Can I just ask, where did you get the ECM testing done and how much did it cost? (apparently the policy is that I have to be re-tested during this pregnancy, but I'm concerned about the high rate of false negative with the nhs testing)
Hope the next few weeks go smoothly for you

 

[Drazic<3]

Hey hun,

Congrats on having number 5 on the way! How wonderful And thank you for spending the time to post to put my mind at ease - hearing your story has really helped.

I got the test from here https://www.mumstuff.co.uk/acatalog/Group-B-Streptococcus-Screening-Test-Kit.html and went through them, it was £32.00. They text you when the result is in so you don't have to wait, and you need to send it off between 35-37 weeks

 

[Pookie 73]

Hi

Hope you are ok - hope you don't mind me replying to your thread but I just wanted to pass on some reassurance (if possible) as I was diagnosed with GBS and was worried about how the whole birth was going to be and possible effects for the baby etc.

All that happened for the GBS when I was in labour was that they gave me a shot of antibiotics every 4 hours through a canula (sp?) in my hand and then they kept an eye on the baby afterwards to check that she was ok. So although a water birth was out of the question, I wasn't restricted in terms of movement (which was a positive for me).

The chances of your baby having any problems are really low and the thought that kept me going was that as the NHS don't routinely test for GBS then lots of women must have it when they give birth with no antibiotics in labour and their babies are perfectly fine

Anyway to you and all the best for the rest of your pregnancy

 

[llamedos]

Try not to worry - GBS can come and go all the time, so you may not even have it present for most of your pregnancy. So long as your waters haven't broken, the baby is protect, it's once your waters break that it becomes a risk.

Try not to stress too much about it xxx

 

[Drazic<3]

Thank you for sharing that pookie - it really puts my mind at ease to know your LO was fine, and you could move too. And I totally hadn't thought about that with NHS testing - surely if it was SO bad they would test everyone. Thank you

llamedos, thank you for your reply. It's so reassuring to hear things like this

 

[mum2be2011]

Hey girls,

I have just been told I am positive for GBS. We paid for a private culture enriched test so the results are pretty reliable.

I was alright about it at first, but as usual, google is not your friend and now I am so worried I might already have the infection in my womb ect... I just wondered if anyone else has been diagnosed and how you are coping? Or if you are worried?

My midwife is trying to get me a consultant appointment over the next few weeks, but she said it will probably be IV anti-biotics. So much for all my water birth/unmedicalised/hypno dream birth!

Thanks in advance for any replies

Hi Drazic, as the other ladies have said whilst baby is in the womb protected by the amniotic fluid s/he is fine. It only becomes a problem once the waters have gone and this is why you will be given the IV antibiotics during labour.

I had GBS with my 1st pregnancy, it was found at 18 weeks in a high vaginal swab as I had gone into hospital with pain and bleeding. I had a strep B alert sticker put on my handheld notes and my hospital notes and the hospital also inform the paediatricians about the strep B and they will do your babies check after birth instead of a midwife. You will be re-swabbed around 35 weeks in some trusts but at my hospital, they assume that as you have had it confirmed in pregnancy that it will still be there.

I have GBS again in this pregnancy but this time it is in my urine, I have been told that I will be swabbed later on in pregnancy to check for GBS in my vagina.

Please dont worry, google often paints a bleak picture of many things and I have given up looking as it has often upset me. Has your midwife or anyone told you about the GBS support group online, it has lots of valuable info on it and explains in detail what GBS is and there is also a leaflet you can print off to make sure your midwife/hospital are doing everything for you.

Heres a link if you want to have a look https://www.gbss.org.uk/

 

[Drazic<3]

Thank you so much for your in depth reply hun. I had a private test so I told my midwife about it and she just said it would mean anti-biotics but she couldn't discuss treatment I needed to do so with a consultant, so I have an appointment for 10 days time. Bit frustrating not knowing but hi-ho! I will check out that website and get some advice - thank you sweety

 

[nikkip19]

i was positive for group b strep with Luca. i got the antibiotics and all was perfect the problem arises when the doctors DONT know your a carrier. you were diagnosed so the precautions will be taken. no worries! good luck with your little peanut

 

[Drazic<3]

Thanks nikkip, honestly - hearing all these good stories makes me feel so much better

 

[Justagirlxx]

1 out of 4 women are GBS positive. Without antibiotics you have a .5 percent chance of passing it on to your baby. With antibiotics you barely have any chance of passing it. So dont worry too much hun. xx

 

[Drazic<3]

Thank you hun

 

[Sophist]

I just replied on the other thread about this. It's a concern for me too because I was positive at 36 wks with both my term pregnancies and had abx in labor. However my daughter developed complications after birth because of the abx. Additionally, I was given other drugs in my IV to augment my labor without my informed consent. As a woman who wants as natural a birth as possible it angers me that my child's health and my right to consent to care were ignored in favor of hospital protocols.

This time, I'm taking a more assertive/pro-active plan of action, after talking with my mw at length about the pros and cons.

Did you know abx in labor have been shown to reduce colonization of GBS in the baby, but have not been shown to reduce infant mortality? The same number of babies are dying as before, but the babies treated with abx tend to be dying now from resistant strain of e. coli rather than GBS. So...while there is a minimal chance of baby being infected during birth, treating with abx doesn't impact whether your baby will live.

Try not to worry - GBS can come and go all the time, so you may not even have it present for most of your pregnancy. So long as your waters haven't broken, the baby is protect, it's once your waters break that it becomes a risk.

Try not to stress too much about it xxx

This. GBS comes and goes in 4-6 wk cycles. If its colonized in your vagina, there's a good likelihood it won't be around when baby comes, and if it is the chances of it transferring to baby are extremely low unless your water has been broken for a long time, or baby is coming earlier than 37 weeks, or mom is running a fever while in labor.

For me, unless one of these conditions is met, I am opting out of abx in labor, and if a swab at 36-38 wks is positive, will be self treating with large doses of vitamin C, echinachea, and garlic (midwife supervised of course.)

 

[katsina]

Doc told me I had a mild infection in my first 2nd month and I did take an antibiotic which cleared it up. Now I have been informed that I will be put on penicillin when I deliver. He did not appear to be worried at all!

 

[Sophist]

Doc told me I had a mild infection in my first 2nd month and I did take an antibiotic which cleared it up. Now I have been informed that I will be put on penicillin when I deliver. He did not appear to be worried at all!

That's ridiculous. Just because you have GBS now does not mean it will still be around at 40 weeks. Insist on a swab at 37 weeks or so before consenting to that.

 

[lushious09]

google is really not a good place to search things hun, what google dosnt tell you is that passing it onto baby is very rare! its just when it does happen it can be serious... makes more sense to prevent that slight chance then leave it if they know though!... so its good they have found it... secondly it may not be present in a few weeks times... so you may not even need the IV ... remember 1 in 3 women will have this and the majority wont even know and they go on to have healthy babies!... the off chance they dont and baby becomes ill they are right on hand to give bambino antibiotics! so really try not to worry hun

As far as it getting into your womb i really wouldnt worry yourself... the baby is protected by membranes a mucas plug and what nots... and as soon as your waters go that is when they want you in to start antibiotics... so you are well and truely safe

Its not nice hearing or reading things no but remember this is very commen and very unlikely your baby will get ill xxx

 

[Drazic<3]

Thank you sweetheart

 

[sar35]

thanks for this thread. Will you please update Drazic if you can when you've had baby (not long now) if you had anti B's etc, Ive just been told I have this also and told to remember to tell them when im giving birth that I need anti B's! It was picked up on a swab I had when i had bleeding in July!
So will we always be carriers? is it a problem if we are not pregnant or is it only because we are pg

 

[mum2be2011]

thanks for this thread. Will you please update Drazic if you can when you've had baby (not long now) if you had anti B's etc, Ive just been told I have this also and told to remember to tell them when im giving birth that I need anti B's! It was picked up on a swab I had when i had bleeding in July!
So will we always be carriers? is it a problem if we are not pregnant or is it only because we are pg

Sar35, Group B strep lives quiet happily in the majority of people and it does no harm. It only becomes a problem during labour once the waters have gone as baby is no longer protected, that is why they give regular anti b's during labour (every 4-6 hours I think it is)

 

[Drazic<3]

Thanks for replying hun. I will of course update and let you all know - hopefully she won't keep me waiting much longer