q. for homebirth midwives

[lovebeingamomma]

how do you treat a baby born at home that clearly has contracted GBS? A mad rush to the hospital or is there actually something you can do to treat it at home?

[Defenestrator]

There is no "clearly contracted GBS" at home, only babies who have poor tone, fevers, poor color, lethargy, poor feeding, or respiratory problems. Those babies do get immediate transport in my practice. It is part of the hospital's job to do the cultures, do the xrays, look more closely at the symptoms, and figure out what the diagnosis is. Even with a mom who is colonized with GBS, a baby can become infected with another organism and there are lots of things, from PDA to birth anomalies that can cause symptoms that look like the symptoms of GBS infection.

For what it's worth, I've transported two babies for suspected GBS -- one who needed to be resuscitated and never quite got vital and perky before leaving for the hospital, and one that developed symptoms at 8 hours postpartum of grunting, poor color, rapid breathing and retracting. Neither had GBS infection confirmed at the hospital. They were both given antibiotics, they both got better almost immediately, and we don't really know what caused their problems.

[lovebeingamomma]

Ok thanks!

[MsBlack]

I agree with Defenstrator. I would be looking for any 1 or a group of particular signs in a newborn that to me would indicate 'significantly compromised, in need of medical evaluation/treatment'. I am looking at all newborns for those same signs--and if any/some of them are present, I would not be diagnosing them, and doubt the underlying problem would be clear anyway, even if I had a good guess to make. There are just so many possible reasons for the arising of those signs--infection, genetics/chromosomal, birth trauma...best to get med evaluation at least.

And if I believed I had good reason to suspect a bacterial infection (as Def. pointed out, GBS or 'other') then it's extremely doubtful I would even try to respond with natural remedies at home. Neonates are so very susceptible to infection--so vulnerable. Even with the common cold, you have to be careful--though if a baby was born into a home where family members had a cold, I'd be more likely to consider some of those poor neonate-signs as likely coming from a cold virus. I'd still be very careful, but more likely to give advice about helping baby recover at home--and watching for worsening signs that point toward med eval/treatment.

When it comes to GBS/other bacterial infections, to me 'prevention' is the key. If prevention does not apparently work, and infection signs are present, then I'll urge transfer to med care.