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[Anilia]

Alright, I need all you sage lady's advice!  I have strep b (and had it last time) and I need to get rid of it if possible or something before January.  It about ruined my birth with my son by forcing me into the hospital way before I was in labor and I am not letting that happen this time.  The dr's I have are much more interventiony than the midwives I saw before.  Because of insurance, I have very little choice in that, so I want to take care of it before it becomes an issue if possible.

Any advice would be wonderful!

[organicviolin]

I would see a naturopathic or osteopathic physician. They can give you some homeopathic meds that can eliminate or at least reduce the GBS in your body. I would also really OD on probiotics and attempt to re-balance your gut. Best of luck!

[kawa kamuri]

I was GBS+ for the first time with my last birth. Luckily I had a HB with a MW, my labour progressed too swiftly for antibiotics, and baby was fine. My membranes ruptured about ten minutes before birth so he had very little exposure. I am worried about testing positive again if for no other reason than the slight worry for my child.

I'm really sorry to hear that testing positive for GBS had such a negative effect on the birth of your baby. Can you show up in active labour/transition and, oops, I didn't realise I was in labour? That's genuinely how mine go! Perhaps that would lessen the time they'd have for interventions? Hire a doula or employ a trusted person to advocate for you? I do not in any way believe in homeopathics (no offense to anyone), but will be reading any responses you get with interest.       

[Anilia]

With my son, my water broke and my midwives made me go to the hospital (12 hours later) and then it was another 18+ hours.  You know, because I wasn't in LABOR! I'm hoping not to go to the hospital until I'm about ready to push to avoid the OB as long as possible.  But I can't go more than so long if the water breaks early again...  Who knows- it is so weird to be imagining another birth!

[kawa kamuri]

Originally Posted by Anilia 

With my son, my water broke and my midwives made me go to the hospital (12 hours later) and then it was another 18+ hours.  You know, because I wasn't in LABOR! I'm hoping not to go to the hospital until I'm about ready to push to avoid the OB as long as possible.  But I can't go more than so long if the water breaks early again...  Who knows- it is so weird to be imagining another birth!

Yeah, true. I didn't consider ruptured membranes so long before birth. 

[Adaline'sMama]

I plan to take a short dose of oral antibiotics before birth (Ill likely take it 35 weeks, but am more at risk to birth early). My OB says that should knock it out and make sure that babies dont get exposed. I didnt get in a full dose before my son was born because labor + delivery was less than three hours.

[Beltane]

The CDC guidelines changed in late 2010 - the write-up can be found here:  http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/rr/rr5910.pdf  If you look at page 22, you can see the new recommendations. 

Since I am also heading for a hospital birth this time, I plan to refuse the test - and I should be good to go as long as baby arrives after 37 weeks and my water is broken for less than 18 hours.  The new guidelines indicate that the baby is just 'observed' for sepsis that point with no routine diagnostic testing.  If the infant is born before 37 weeks and the membranes have broken for more than 18 hours, then the infant should undergo limited evaluation and observation.

Hope this helps.
 

[J1379]

I feel your pain since I have been GBS positive for my last two births.  Labour with DS#2 progressed so quickly that I was not able to have any antibiotics before birth so instead DS was monitored every 4 hours for 48 hours to ensure that he was not showing any signs of infection (e.g. fever).  I was not thrilled with this since I wanted to go home as quickly as possible...but in the end it was much more important to me to put his health first and ensure that when he came home there was no risk of of GBS infection.  If you do end up missing your antibiotics before birth this is likely what would be recommended for your baby as well :)

[kawa kamuri]

Originally Posted by J1379 

I feel your pain since I have been GBS positive for my last two births.  Labour with DS#2 progressed so quickly that I was not able to have any antibiotics before birth so instead DS was monitored every 4 hours for 48 hours to ensure that he was not showing any signs of infection (e.g. fever).  I was not thrilled with this since I wanted to go home as quickly as possible...but in the end it was much more important to me to put his health first and ensure that when he came home there was no risk of of GBS infection.  If you do end up missing your antibiotics before birth this is likely what would be recommended for your baby as well :)

Interesting. I had a (GBS+ no antibiotic) homebirth so maybe that's why my experience was different, but nothing special was done. My MW visited the day after birth and three days after as she normally would. I went into the MW office and had a pediatrician appointment two weeks later as any mama and baby would. Neither the MW or the ped were at all worried either prior to or after birth. I have no idea how this would have been different had my son been born in the hospital, but I suspect the experience would have been similar. The HB laws here are pretty strict. 

[itsajenism]

I was GBS+ in my first pregnancy. Had a hospital birth and not enough time for the two doses of antibiotics they give. They made me stay for 2 days to monitor DS1 and woke us up every 2 hours to take DS1's temperature. 

I declined the test in my 2nd pregnancy and decided to do a hibiclens when labor started. Had an (unplanned) unassisted home birth and not enough time to do the hibiclens. I monitored baby on my own for 48 hours. 

I'm declining the test this time and don't have any plans of doing anything beforehand other than continuing to eat fermented foods (probiotics!). I'll monitor baby for 48 hours myself as I did last time. 

Personally, I don't feel like GBS is nearly as big of a deal as it's made out to be (and have yet to find any research that shows otherwise - though I'll admit I haven't researched since pregnant with DS2). Not to mention, taking antibiotics weeks before labor doesn't mean it won't come back and testing positive weeks before labor doesn't mean you'll be positive when labor begins.  

[Anilia]

I'm with an ob and they already know I am positive because of a uti.  So- no getting out treatment unless things happen too fast or it is somehow magically gone when they test later to see what antibiotic to use.  Le sigh.  I don't think it is that big a deal either, and wouldn't even care about the treatment except it will be another chance to force me to lay down and hook me up to an iv which I am trying to avoid as much as possible.  I feel like I can already sense where that will lead...

[countrygirl28]

I'm a family doc ( I come in peace, promise).  I had a patient who declined to be tested for GBS prior to delivery.  She understood the risks to the baby in the event that she was GBS positive and did not get treatment.  We decided she would be treated according to the current standard of care and receive antibiotics if her membranes were ruptured for longer than 18 hours.  She went into labor 1 day shy of 38 weeks.  Membranes were ruptured for around 10 hours and she birthed a beautiful baby boy!  Very long story short, around 12 hours of life, the baby started to show vital sign instability.  Antibiotics were empirically started, and the baby was transferred to the NICU.  Unfortunately, the bacteria had seeded in the baby's lungs and before long spread to his bloodstream.  The infection overwhelmed the newborn and he died on his third day of life.  His cultures all came back positive for GBS.  I will never forget hearing that mama's sobs as she said goodbye to her baby.  She just kept saying, "why didn't I get tested?"  and apologizing to her son.  It was so sad!

I didn't post this story in an effort to be negative.  I'm not even urging everyone to get tested.  I firmly believe that people have the right to be thoroughly informed and make their own decisions for themselves and their children.  The reality is most woman who do not get treated for GBS will have children who are completely unaffected, regardless of the length of their labor.  This woman and her child were an unfortunate exception.  Bad things do happen, even if you have the best of intentions and play by the rules.  Of course, that goes for everything in life from pregnancy and childbirth to playing sports, to walking across the street.  I sincerely hope that we all have healthy pregnancies and get to welcome healthy little ones into our families, no matter how we choose to manage pregnancy and birth! 

[Anilia]

Thank you country girl!  I know my doctor said something similar when we were talking about it.  Most cases- no big deal- when it is a problem though, its big.  I was hoping there was some magical way to eliminate it before the delivery, but it sounds like there isn't anything good.

It is nice to have you around!

[itsajenism]

Actually, there are ways to eliminate it before delivery. 

You can up your probiotics and fermented foods (like sauerkraut), take immune boosters (like Vitamin C, garlic and echinacea), you can insert garlic vaginally, use hibiclens, and keeping vaginal examinations to a minimum. 

I'm not saying don't take the antibiotics if that's what you're comfortable with. I'm a firm believer in everyone making the best choice for themselves. :) 

I'm just putting it out there that there ARE options you can try prior to testing and up until labor to remain GBS negative. 

Boosting your immune system is the best way to keep it at a level that is healthy and would return a negative test and to lower your chances of it returning. 

My labors are so short I don't really have the option of antibiotics in labor. DS2 was born in 45 minutes and in 18 minutes after my water broke. Not even enough time for the midwives to show up which is why I choose to boost my immune system as much as possible. Taking antibiotics prior to labor is not going to help a GBS+ patient as it will have plenty of time to return before labor begins. If I were choosing the antibiotic route again, I'd choose it during labor rather than weeks prior. 

There are tons of links out there for natural remedies for GBS as well as tons of threads on MDC for it. 

Anilia - They won't test you again at 35-37 weeks just because you were positive in early pregnancy? 

[Anilia]

Thanks Jen!  I'll certainly be doing many of these things already.  I don't have much history to go off of but with my son I had a couple days between water breaking and baby delivering.  I have my fingers crossed that my water will hold longer this time and labor will progress faster (or really- at all :)

[organicviolin]

those dang babies and how they want to come! it always seems like either too fast or too slow! lol

[Anilia]

Originally Posted by organicviolin 

those dang babies and how they want to come! it always seems like either too fast or too slow! lol