GBS positive...HELP!

[camip1225]

I am having my second baby in a couple weeks (or sooner).  Tested positive for GBS.  I have found lots of good info on this site, but need more specifics.  Is it too late for vit C, echinacea, probiotics, etc to have any effect?  What kind of probiotic should i get?  how much should i take?  how much vit c?  how much echinacea?  can i take garlic perles or just raw garlic (yuck)??  If I can take the perles how much?  what about grapefruit extract?  how much of that?  lastly...where do I buy hibicleanse?  How much do i mix with water?  How do I apply it?  How often?  even after my water breaks do i continue to apply? Is it best if I do all of the things I've listed or are some more effective than others at this stage in the game? sorry for all of the questions....I just need some specifics.

Lastly....can i sign a waiver at the hospital for the antibiotics or is it "policy"????

HELP!  :)

[1love4ever]

Here is a good article  http://mothering.com/pregnancy-birth/treating-group-b-strep, I would not be worried about your positive status other than what the hospital wants to do to you.  In nursing school I learned that you can refuse any medical treatment/intervention that you want.  But, it might be a war!  The things that you mentioned are more for women who are trying to "cheat" the test BEFORE they take it so that they show up as negative even if they were positive.

Please, before you do anything, read this article!  Also I would talk to your Dr right away and tell him/her that you will not be accepting antibiotics in the hospital, see what they say.  Dont phrase it as a question "Can I refuse them"   Just say "I will be refusing them"  (my midwifes policy is that if your water has been broken 18hrs then you are transferred to the hospital because after that point it is a valid concern, but it is rare for water to be broken that long before birth.  But as long as you are full term and healthy, I would NOT worry and I would not do any of the things that you mentioned.  The hospital will still treat you are GBS positive even if you do those things)

[emmaegbert]

the problem with refusing abx (besides the very small but real chance that your baby could develop an infection, which of course could happen if you had a negative test) is that they may then insist on treating your baby prophylactically, or keeping for observation. I had the latter happen, and have had friends who had the former happen- baby kept in the hospital on IV abx while mom was released, and waiting to get cultures from baby's lungs to rule out GBS. SO. That really sucks and personally I would choose abx during labor if it avoided that.

I have been GBS+ in both previous pregnancies and am waiting to hear the results for this current pregnancy. I believe all these things you would take would have been to try and clear it out of your system in advance of the test. You could ask if you can be retested, but most hospitals don't go for that.

My labors were too fast for the abx protocols (I am allergic to penicillin and apparently the alternative that they use really has to be more than 3 hours before the birth, and that wasn't possible in either case). Both babies were perfectly fine, the first was monitored in the hospital (and I was roomed with him) so it wasn't great but not as bad as it could have been. The second was born at home and monitored at home. There is a hibiclens protocol used in some countries (according to my MWs) and we were prepared to do that if I had a prolonged labor or PROM (I did not, total labor was under 3 hours, water broke about 10 minutes before the birth).

My current MWs, if their patients are positive, do a vaginal gel that is antibacterial cream for a week, then retest. and retest weekly until the birth. they say that so far, this has resulted in negative GBS status for all their moms. We discussed doing a hibiclens wash with me if for some reason I am positive when I go into labor, as it is something that I can actually do on my own at home when labor begins or water breaks (whichever happens first) and then, I believe, its every 2 hours until birth.

One way to find out about hospital procedures is to ask, "what happens if my labor is too short for the abx doses?"

Anyway, good luck. I am sorry to hear you have GBS but I am sure you know that its still a very, very small chance of there actually being any infection passed along to your baby.

[adoremybabe]

Originally Posted by emmaegbert 

the problem with refusing abx (besides the very small but real chance that your baby could develop an infection, which of course could happen if you had a negative test) is that they may then insist on treating your baby prophylactically, or keeping for observation. I had the latter happen, and have had friends who had the former happen- baby kept in the hospital on IV abx while mom was released, and waiting to get cultures from baby's lungs to rule out GBS. SO. That really sucks and personally I would choose abx during labor if it avoided that.

I have been GBS+ in both previous pregnancies and am waiting to hear the results for this current pregnancy. I believe all these things you would take would have been to try and clear it out of your system in advance of the test. You could ask if you can be retested, but most hospitals don't go for that.

My labors were too fast for the abx protocols (I am allergic to penicillin and apparently the alternative that they use really has to be more than 3 hours before the birth, and that wasn't possible in either case). Both babies were perfectly fine, the first was monitored in the hospital (and I was roomed with him) so it wasn't great but not as bad as it could have been. The second was born at home and monitored at home. There is a hibiclens protocol used in some countries (according to my MWs) and we were prepared to do that if I had a prolonged labor or PROM (I did not, total labor was under 3 hours, water broke about 10 minutes before the birth).

My current MWs, if their patients are positive, do a vaginal gel that is antibacterial cream for a week, then retest. and retest weekly until the birth. they say that so far, this has resulted in negative GBS status for all their moms. We discussed doing a hibiclens wash with me if for some reason I am positive when I go into labor, as it is something that I can actually do on my own at home when labor begins or water breaks (whichever happens first) and then, I believe, its every 2 hours until birth.

One way to find out about hospital procedures is to ask, "what happens if my labor is too short for the abx doses?"

Anyway, good luck. I am sorry to hear you have GBS but I am sure you know that its still a very, very small chance of there actually being any infection passed along to your baby.

During my last two labors there was not enough time to get a complete dose of abx before my babies were born. So right after birth they had a blood draw and then that blood was observed while we were in the hospital. I'm really thinking about refusing the abx this time and just having the babe get a blood draw. I'm at a new hospital though so I'll inquire about procedure first.

[DeChRi]

Do you have a good relationship with your ped?  With my 2nd I was GBS+ but didnt have time for dose 2.  My ped signed off to release baby from hospital at 24 hours as long as we agreed to bring her in a couple days later to have her checked on.  We agreed.  Granted, we are 3 min from the ped office, so it was not a biggie.  Just a thought. :) Good luck.