GBS - What would you do? - Page 3

[CEG]

This was mentioned above but I would like to reiterate- CDC guidelines do not call for bloodwork, they recommend observing baby.  Print off a copy and take them in with you.  It's hard to argue with the CDC.  Maybe you could talk to the director of peds before your delivery and bring this up just to see how they react?

[Plummeting]

There has been research showing that you only need ONE hour after ONE dose of IV antibiotics for the baby's antibiotic level (and that's what's protecting the baby) to reach its maximum level. After that, it's all pointless, unless your labor is longer and you need another dose. The baby does NOT get more protection from longer exposure to the antibiotics. Their blood levels peak one hour after you get the antibiotics. Really, it's true. I don't know that this will sway anyone at your hospital if you're interested in getting the antibiotics, but if you look for the study, you should be able to find it. I did, and I wasn't even trying, lol. (I also have a history of precipitous labor and am trying to decide what to do about it.) Unfortunately, I didn't save it, because I'm planning a home birth and while IV abx are available to me at home, my last birth was 52 minutes, so it's unlikely I'll even have one hour. Ugh. Anyway, perhaps with that study in hand, you may be able to convince someone that you don't need to get the antibiotics 4 hours ahead of time, and you certainly don't need two full doses, but rather ONE dose given ONE hour before birth. Then maybe they'll leave you alone. It's worth a try, if nothing else works. Good luck.

[Plummeting]

I'm adding this study because I got on my laptop and it was already open. It's not the same one I mentioned, but it discusses IM penicillin injected ahead of time in cases where it's expected that the mother might deliver without receiving IV abx during labor. This is much less effective than IV penicillin, but there was a significant reduction in GBS colonization of the newborns of mothers who got the injection. It's something I've been considering.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/191814/efficacy_of_intramuscular_penicillin_in_the_eradication_of_group_b/

I'm really not sure if you even want to do any sort of prevention, so if not, I'm sorry to give you info you aren't really interested in. However, if you are, and if you are looking for ways to avoid drama with the baby, this might be another option to consider. Of course, whoever decides these things at your hospital might not care, but it doesn't hurt to have options.