GBS+ Hibicleanse vs. ABX

[S.Elise]

Hi all,

Why oh why do I get these tests? My last baby was born in England where they don't routinely do the GBS test, and he was fine. For some reason I just stupidly went along with the test here, and sure enough, its positive.

My MW is recommending a strong dose of oral ABX when I go into labor. She's still totally fine with me homebirthing and relatively relaxed about this all, but she did not offer me any other option but taking the ABX pills. I've been reading up on this board on the Hibicleanse protocol. Does anyone have any info on the differential effectiveness of these two methods? I'm not direly opposed to taking the pills, but I would prefer not to for all the reasons we generally don't like taking that poison.

Thanks in advance,

Lauren

[nikirj]

I'm surprised your MW is offering oral abx. They don't really work; you need nearly a week on oral abx to achieve the kind of reduction you get with 4 hours on IV abx. Did she give you any effectiveness information? It's possible she's using a different protocol from the ones I've seen studied...but oral abx have been studied over and over again, and the conclusion has always been that they don't work. The hibiclens, by comparison, reduces colony counts to something very close to what you'd get with the IV abx. The issue with the hibiclens is that it is essentially a "surface cleaner" - if the bacteria are already in the uterus, it won't do anything.

[berrymama]

I asked my midwife about his since I was positive last time. She gave me a bunch of abstracts from studies that basically say it does no harm and can have the same efficacy as ampicillin in preventing transmission of GBS. She recommends a rinse every 6 hours after waters are broken.

[emnic77]

Originally Posted by nikirj

I'm surprised your MW is offering oral abx. They don't really work; you need nearly a week on oral abx to achieve the kind of reduction you get with 4 hours on IV abx. Did she give you any effectiveness information? It's possible she's using a different protocol from the ones I've seen studied...but oral abx have been studied over and over again, and the conclusion has always been that they don't work. The hibiclens, by comparison, reduces colony counts to something very close to what you'd get with the IV abx. The issue with the hibiclens is that it is essentially a "surface cleaner" - if the bacteria are already in the uterus, it won't do anything.

Ditto this.
even the IV abx need 4 hours to work, but the pills need a lot longer.

I did the hibiclens rinse with a hospital birth that I refused abx in. Between when I found out and when I gave birth (8 days over due date) I ate the heck out of grapefruits, grapefruit seed extract in all my juice, took probiotics, refused internals, ate garlic like I was getting paid for it, and in the end, I had no risk factors. My water didn't break until my son's head was born, I wasn't preterm (obviously, being over a week late) and I saw no reason for abx.
Plus, the way GBS is, you could test negative at 36 weeks or whatever and be positive at birth and never even know it.
If I had risk factors for infection transmission, I might have chosen differently, but I don't know.

[pamamidwife]

don't forget probiotics, immune boosting herbs (I usually recommend Oregon Grape Root/Echinacea/Goldenseal combo daily) and even garlic vaginally.

Hibiclens is pretty big guns, as it does alter the vaginal pH considerably - though it is effective against GBS. I have seen women test negative after doing probiotics, herbs and garlic vaginally (vaginally every 5 days or so until birth).

[S.Elise]

Originally Posted by pamamidwife

don't forget probiotics, immune boosting herbs (I usually recommend Oregon Grape Root/Echinacea/Goldenseal combo daily) and even garlic vaginally.

Hibiclens is pretty big guns, as it does alter the vaginal pH considerably - though it is effective against GBS. I have seen women test negative after doing probiotics, herbs and garlic vaginally (vaginally every 5 days or so until birth).

Thanks for this. Do you have a sense of how long those women were doing the herbal regimine?

[pamamidwife]

With a couple mamas we re-tested after a week of doing the regimen and all subsequent tests came back negative. Now, keep in mind that every woman has a different colonization count, but I really feel like addressing things systemically vs firing all the guns at the ladybits really helps your overall health.

[S.Elise]

Originally Posted by pamamidwife

With a couple mamas we re-tested after a week of doing the regimen and all subsequent tests came back negative. Now, keep in mind that every woman has a different colonization count, but I really feel like addressing things systemically vs firing all the guns at the ladybits really helps your overall health.

Wow, thank you SOOO much for this. I totally agree with that approach in general and in particular here. I'll let you know how it goes!

[mwherbs]

you know what I am now wondering is what is a mom's vitamin D status if she has GBS- because there was a recent study on BV in pregnancy and vitamin D makes quite a difference.so it is very possible that moms who are low in vitamin D are more likely to be colonized with these critters

[S.Elise]

Originally Posted by mwherbs

you know what I am now wondering is what is a mom's vitamin D status if she has GBS- because there was a recent study on BV in pregnancy and vitamin D makes quite a difference.so it is very possible that moms who are low in vitamin D are more likely to be colonized with these critters

Interesting you say that, because my levels were very low early in my preg, and I am now on vit D supplementation and feeling so much better in so many ways. My immune system had been totally shot (despite good diet and exercise) due to the deficiency, as well as working 90 hours weeks of a totally unpredictable schedule for the past 5 years. So it does not surprise me I have a lingering issue with this.