GBS status

[1blueheron]

I was GBS+ last time.  Anybody positive for one pregnancy and then negative for a subsequent pregnancy?  Did you do anything?

[slimkins]

This is only my second pregnancy, so, no personal experience. But I have read a lot of threads in past DDCs where moms were positive with one and not the other. Some did things, some didn't.

[LindsayEM]

GBS colonies can come and go, and anyone can technically carry GBS in their body at any given time, not just pregnant women.  That is one reason why you are tested toward the end of pregnancy, because if they tested you in the beginning, and you were negative, you could be positive by the time you were ready to give birth - and the other way around.  Being positive with one pregnancy doesn't mean you will be with another.  There are some "natural" ways to reduce/eliminate GBS colonies in the vagina and subsequently giving you a negative status when they test you between 35-37 weeks, but the colony can come back if you were to stop the treatment you were using.  

[miblair]

I was negative when I was pregnant with my son, but tested positive when I took the test at 10 weeks during this pregnancy (I had to be tested because I had a CVS test).  My doctor said I would have to do the IV of antibiotics during labor, because anytime anyone tests positive at any stage they treat them as GBS+.  However, I have read that this depends greatly on your practitioner (doctor, midwife, etc), and of course your personal choice if you choose to go ahead with the antibiotics.  Did you go ahead with the antibiotics for your last pregnancy when you were positive?  If so, what was your experience? (hope I'm not hijacking your post!)

[1blueheron]

Originally Posted by miblair 

I was negative when I was pregnant with my son, but tested positive when I took the test at 10 weeks during this pregnancy (I had to be tested because I had a CVS test).  My doctor said I would have to do the IV of antibiotics during labor, because anytime anyone tests positive at any stage they treat them as GBS+.  However, I have read that this depends greatly on your practitioner (doctor, midwife, etc), and of course your personal choice if you choose to go ahead with the antibiotics.  Did you go ahead with the antibiotics for your last pregnancy when you were positive?  If so, what was your experience? (hope I'm not hijacking your post!)

Hmm, that's pretty unreasonable to test you at 10 weeks and then say you'll need antibiotics.  I mean, they test you late in pregnancy because status can totally change (and really, my understanding is that it can change even between 36 weeks and delivery, but they don't have a good rapid test they can do during labor).  I'd definitely ask to be retested under your circumstances.

I did have antibiotics last time, and because my labor was sooooooo long, I had lots of doses!  (They do it like every 4 hours!)  It ended up not being a big deal - neither I nor baby had any adverse reactions or developed thrush/yeast problems, but if I'm GBS negative this time I would like to avoid any unnecessary disruption of my labor and I really don't want to mess up my happy healthy microbe community. 

[TyrantOfTheWeek]

I had GBS + urine at my first OB visit. My OB is still optimistic about my homebirth (He is awesome.) I had one course of ABX back then when my urine culture came back + and we plan on doing another round of ABX around 36ish weeks. I may also do a hibclens scrub down below once I go into labor for good measure.

[Adaline'sMama]

I tested negative last time, but DD was early and the results werent charted when I went into labor, so I wound up doing the antibiotics. I never noticed any problems, it was only two rounds of antibiotics at 20 minutes apiece, so it didnt really effect my labor too much. Neither DD or I got sick for months, but I did take a good probiotic immediately after birth.

[MamaShannon]

I tested negative with my first pregnancy, but have yet to be tested for this one. I've been taking probiotics daily for a few weeks and have friends who have used a vaginal hibiclense as well as inserted garlic cloves overnight to help prevent a positive test and/or decrease their risk of still being positive once the baby is born. From what I have read, it seems that even if you are positive, chances are extremely slim that your baby would be affected and signs/symptoms can be easily watched for, so even if I do test positive, I will not plan to use antibiotics during labor. I will, however, use natural methods to do what I can to decrease risk of infection. 

[naturegirl]

I tested negative with my first pregnancy, positive with my first test of my second pregnancy (at approx 37 weeks). I did garlic vaginal suppositories and hibiclens before my next test and was then negative, about a week later. During his birth we did a simple extra "wipe" of hibiclens when in labor and no antibiotics. This one, I am not even testing. My midwife says that 1/3 of women are always positive, 1/3 go in and out, and 1/3 are always negative. So I am probably one of those in and out people and even if I test positive or negative 1-3 weeks before birth...well it doesn't mean I am actually positive (or not) during delivery. Just plan on keeping a healthy environment, probiotics and good diet to decrease chance of any infection.