Positive for GBS

[mrsdocmartin]

What are my options?? I am having a hospital birth with a CNM. I am waiting to hear back from her, but before I do, I'd like to have some information. I really wanted a waterbirth this time. Is that going to be totally out of the question? What do I need to know?

[witchygrrl]

I was positive for GBS with my DD. In my view, you have two options. You can either accept antibiotics through an IV every 4 hours in labor. Or you can refuse them, like I did, and agree to have baby monitored for 48 hours.

I refused because I am allergic to penicillian, and because the CNM told me that alternative antibiotics are not always accepted by peds as appropriate treatment. So I figure, why bother?

What happened was that after DD was born, some 4 hours later, they took a blood sample and sent it off for testing. Part of it for culture and part of it for testing at the moment. What they found was that her white blood cell count was elevated, but that her ratios were okay. At the time, I felt scared, so we consented to her being in the special nursery instead of rooming in with us.

So of course, her cultures came back totally fine, but she ended up being hooked up to an iv antibiotics herself. That made me very sad, but because her initial blood work was off, I felt like I would have taken too big of a risk if I had done otherwise. Maybe I was bullied into it, but I don't know how I would rather handle it.

Good luck! I don't mean to frighten you, but I hope it helps you in some way.

[kosheng]

i don't know how progressive your midwife is, but there are other options, such as re-testing after a ramped up supplement regime to try to get rid of the colonization naturally, or during labor, using a hibiclens wash to temporarily de-colonize the area.

you can search for more information on both of these options on mdc. good luck!

[MegBoz]

I like the protocol they have in the UK (checkout www.babycentre.co.uk - funny how the info differs from www.babycenter.com Ha!)
Only if you have 2 or more risk factors for GBS, do they do IV ABTs. + swab is only ONE risk factor. That seems a teeny bit more logical to me & what I'd go with next time around if I were + again.
I'd also like to know HOW colonized I am (since it's not like being + for HIV where you either have the virus or you don't. There are degrees of colonization & obviously the more highly colonized you are, the higher the risk of baby being infected.

All that being said, I didn't have time for ABTs & had to stay in hospital for 48 hours. It's a really stupid policy though because early onset-GBS shows symptoms with 24 hours like 90-some% of the time. (Whereas late-onset can not show up for weeks.) So 48-hour stay isn't evidence-based. But, hey, whatever, not that I've come to expect evidence-based medicine from anywhere anymore.

[jillmamma]

I got lucky and was GBS- the third time, but the first 2 times I was GBS+. Both times I did not have time to get the full dose of antibiotics, so they did the newborn culture, and initially wanted me to stay the full 48 hours after birth, but the ped agreed to sign the baby out if we would come in to his office for an appointment about 2 days after we got home. Both times, MY doctor was fine with signing me out, but the ped wanted to monitor the baby, or let us bring him/her in a couple of days later to make sure all was well. Maybe you could talk to your ped ahead of time and see what he/she thinks of that strategy if you don't have time for the full dose like me? Also, both of those times the baby still roomed with me the entire time as well, and neither had to have any antibiotics after birth.

[LaydieBugs]

I did my test too late to do this but my midwife has a protocol for trying to eliminate the flare up, and then re-test.

I did a tea tree douche (tea tree oil, a few drops of Dr. Bronner's soap), took echinacea and goldenseal, ate and "swabbed" with plain yogurt ... didn't do the Hibiclens because I'm sensitive to Red Dye 40.

Not sure if it worked but just wanted to note some alternative helpers.

I did choose to skip antibiotics during labor, though the positive GBS was at 38 weeks. We did a home birth, with minimal invasion (she doesn't routinely check dilation, doesn't typically strip or rupture membranes, doesn't do the PKU at birth). Antibiotics were there in case I developed a fever or went too long after ROM. My midwife said she had never in 20 years seen a newborn acquire the infection after a home birth - she attributes it to the minimally invasive techniques - so we decided it wasn't worth medicating.

[lunarlady]

I would try to clear the colonization natrually and then get retested in a week or two. That way you can avoid any issues. Standard practice is two doses of penecillin during labor. (Via IV). If you refuse, they will want to test an monitor baby, and maybe give baby AB as well after delivery. Personally, I'd rather have the AB during labor and take baby home faster. But if you can get a negative culture before labor, then you don't have to worry. Good luck!

[JessieBird]

I too would try to clear the culture and get retested. Google around or search old MDC posts and you'll find lots of methods. This is what I did:
- BioK every day
- daily garlic clove suppositories (rectal is supposed to most effective); switched to TTO diluted in olive oil on a tampon daily because I couldn't stand tasting and smelling like garlic 24/7

Unfortunately I didn't have time to retest so I don't know if it worked. I opted for the antibiotics by IV, though I hate to take antibiotics ever and it was a really tough decision, the actual administering of them was no big deal at all. It did not interfere with the birth and it was totally non-invasive. I was allowed in the tub and would have been allowed to birth in water had I chosen to.

Looking at your due date, you probably have time to try for 14-20 days then get retested, depending on how long it takes to get the test results (it's 3-4 days here). Keep up the regimine till birth.

[goldfinches]

I'm also allergic to penicillin, but was able to tolerate the IV ab's. Apparently, because they're a different form than pills, your body can accept them more easily.
I don't see why you can't have a waterbirth while on them? It goes through the IV.

[clarasmom]

I refused abx, water broke 30 seconds before birth and baby was fine... we didn't put her through blood tests or abx, because her risks factors were so low...

[liz-hippymom]

i would assume that if you take the abx and your water is not broken you will still be able to labor and birth in the tub.