Group B strep test...

[Ooey]

I know it's not that big of a deal (just a little swab) but for some reason I just don't want to get this test done. Maybe it's because all of the tests I have consented to up to this point (not many) have somehow turned against me and just become a source of worry (like the ultrasound that shows a blemish on the baby's kidney but is "inconclusive" ) I'm having a homebirth and my mw is encouraging me to get the test.

If I don't get it then they will probably just treat me as if I were positive huh? I just don't want my birth experience to be rushed or compromised just because of some test results. Does anyone know if it is really THAT importaint to get antibiotics in the event that your group B pos, your water breaks and labor doesn't start soon after? Or is this just another "extra precaution" that is standard practice. Anyone know of any good articles/studies that talks about this?
Thanks!

[CalebsMama05]

from what i have heard the antibiotics they give you during labor makes life a lot harder than monitoring the baby afterwards. I've heard of thrush being an issue as well as compromised nursing relationships etc. not to mention the rushed medicalized birth.

the effects on the infant of the GBS w/out antibiotics basically is that the chances of babe contracting anything is very small and can be caught early if the baby is watched closely.

I have a managed pregnancy but will be giving birth at home (unassisted) so i really don't care what my swab says :P good luck. I say if you don't want it then don't get it!

[JanetF]

What Henci Goer says is that what your careprovider doesn't know can't hurt you. It can become a very big deal depending on how your careprovider takes a positive result but it's a pretty meaningless test as you can be tested the next day and get a different result. Far better to monitor you and your baby after birth than have antibiotics for no reason.
Try this:
http://gentlebirth.org/Midwife/gbs.html

[alexisyael]

I have to decide about this one myself...

We're planning a homebirth, but we have a backup CNM who usually does the GBS test at 37 weeks. If we decline the test, then in the event of a transfer, they will treat me as GBS positive. If we don't decline and get a positive, there's not much the hospital can do, unless we transfer, in which case I'd get antibiotics The homebirth MW has some other protocol she uses, but it isn't antibiotics (it's some herbal thing).

If I'm negative, all would be well, I suppose. We'd still monitor, tho, as my MW is well aware that GBS infection can happen at any time.

I'm thinking I'll pretty much have the test, just because of the transfer issue.

[JesiLynne]

I feel a great need to comment on this

My son was a GBS baby
I had a hospital birth with an OB ( this was before I found MDC)
My ob ( most ob's actually) dont test for GBS til week 37

At week 36 my water broke, I was given antibiotics b/c we didnt know my GBS status, 17 hours later I gave birth to Connor
We was gray, limp, and needed to be given oxygen, and was immediately rushed ot the NICU, I couldnt hold him for another 6 hours

After 2 weeks of bloodtransusions, brainscans, an almost braindamaging bilirubin level, major antibiotics, a massive case of pnuemina, we was sent home.

He is also partially deaf and was a major speach delay

When the time came for me to give birth again I had an amazing midwife who begged me to get tested fo rthe safety of my baby
She also set me up on a routine of natural things to do to change my body chemistry from acidic to alkaline, and a very strict diet to prevent GBS from growing in my body

Greg was born with no GBS and no problems

PLEASE I BEG OF YOU , get tested early and research what you can do to fight GBS in your body
Don't think antibiotics are the cure, believe me they are not

[Nathan1097]

I didn't know I had Group B Strep during my last pregnancy (2001) until I had a UTI at 5 mos and went back to say that even though the urine dip was negative, I was sure I had one. They took a urine sample to the lab and came back to tell me I had Beta Strep! I got antibiotics each time I was in labor (premature labor issues) including the last time,and they minoto9red him for 18 hours after birth or so in a "rooming-in" extra room at the hospital, rather than my leaving him in the nursery.

[alegna]

I had a homebirth. I declined the test because I would have declined the antibiotics if positive.

-Angela

[Arwyn]

I think, as with all tests, you should consider what you would do if you had the information. Would it change anything? If the answer's "no," the test is probably not worth getting.

However, antibiotics are not the only way to treat GBS, and there is the risk (grrrrrrr!) of being treated as + if you transfer and weren't tested (OH that pisses me off, although I know why they do it). There are dietary and herbal things you can do to lower your risk. There's also a suggestion that GBS can be treated with garlic (so you can get a pos, treat it without antibiotics, then test again and likely get a negative).

You can also test/treat GBS qualitatively - that is, you can test and get low numbers, be asymptomatic, and unless you PROM or have premature labor oror develop a fever in labor the chance of the baby developing GBS is very, very low. If your numbers are high, you're symptomatic, or you have very early PROM or premature labor then you might consider treating in labor with antibiotics or other means.

I really don't think it's a particularly simple decision, although again, I would start with the relatively simple question of, what would you do with the information?

ETA premature labor - premies are statistically the most vulnerable population with regards to GBS. Which also means that "normal" protocols (testing at 37 weeks, etc) doesn't help them much.

[Amys1st]

Originally Posted by JesiLynne

I feel a great need to comment on this

My son was a GBS baby
I had a hospital birth with an OB ( this was before I found MDC)
My ob ( most ob's actually) dont test for GBS til week 37

At week 36 my water broke, I was given antibiotics b/c we didnt know my GBS status, 17 hours later I gave birth to Connor
We was gray, limp, and needed to be given oxygen, and was immediately rushed ot the NICU, I couldnt hold him for another 6 hours

After 2 weeks of bloodtransusions, brainscans, an almost braindamaging bilirubin level, major antibiotics, a massive case of pnuemina, we was sent home.

He is also partially deaf and was a major speach delay

When the time came for me to give birth again I had an amazing midwife who begged me to get tested fo rthe safety of my baby
She also set me up on a routine of natural things to do to change my body chemistry from acidic to alkaline, and a very strict diet to prevent GBS from growing in my body

Greg was born with no GBS and no problems

PLEASE I BEG OF YOU , get tested early and research what you can do to fight GBS in your body
Don't think antibiotics are the cure, believe me they are not

And to second this- I am a everyday visitor of the NICU right now since my
dd2 Maggie (7 weeks this week) is there. She was premature and will be there for at least another month. So I have now seen my share of what can go wrong with prgncy.

A beautiful boy was delivered last Friday at 32 weeks. He has Group B strep and he has been near death until mid week this week. The ventilator on this boy is huge and pumps real fast. He had at least 10 different wires going into him until yesterday. He is now starting to get stable but it was terrible for the first few days. His bed is across from Maggie's area. His poor parents were told "We have done everything we can" speech and the poor people had to live thru this hell. He should be ok but most babies like this might not survive. After the craziness was over, I started talking to the mom. She and I both have first born dds who were born within a few weeks of each other and now our second was also born within weeks of each other.

If she could she would have gladly had anitbiotics which she would have had she gone fullterm. But she found out (like myself) that she was delivering within 45 minutes since she was fully dialated.

If you might be a carrier, do what you can to have a healthy baby.

[JanetF]

The problem is that you can test positive one day and negative another so even having the test doesn't do much. Monitoring your baby is the only way to know whether or not there's a problem. There are many thoughts around about natural ways to remove GBS from our bodies.

Hugs to mamas with sick babies, how very painful and stressful.

[mezzaluna]

from the reading i'd done, i'd decided antibiotics for GBS was one medical intervention in labor i would go along with. i did end up testing positive, and while i asked if i could take measures to fight it and test again, the OBs told me no, once you have tested positive we will treat you as if you are positive.

i labored at home for a couple hours, then went to the hospital, figuring i would have plenty of lead time for the 4 hours needed before birth for the abx. they gave me one IV dose, then as i'd requested in my birth plan, they taped off everything so i was not hooked to an IV pole, and i was able to go in the tub. i gave birth 3 hours after getting the dose, so they monitored DS for 36 hours afterwards, then he was released. at home, i started taking probiotics religiously for the first several weeks. we never had problems with thrush... the women i know who had antibiotics during labor and then got thrush did not take probiotics... so i'm glad i did it.

since i was already planning a hospital birth, i was concerned about what would happen to my DS if i didn't have the antibiotics - i didn't want him to have to stay for 48 hours (they let us out a little early...) or get prophylactic antibiotics, or any kind of infection workup. i like to think that a little intervention on me saved intervention on him.

[earthmama369]

If I recall correctly, there's something like a 0.5% chance of your baby contracting early-onset GBS from you during birth, and a 0.5% chance of you or your baby having a serious reaction to the antibiotics. Kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don't, but in really small numbers.

I was GBS+ at the end of my first pregnancy. We did end up deciding to go with IV antibiotics during labor, because my water broke before my labor started and it looked like things were going to go long (and they did -- 21 hours). I asked for just a heplock to be put in, so when I wasn't actually getting the antibiotics, I could be free of the IV pole.

The heplock was an annoyance and a distraction, but I didn't have any negative outcome from taking the antibiotics -- no thrush, dd was fine, etc.

It's an individual decision. I would consider any allergies you have to antibiotics, if you have a tendency toward yeast infections/thrush, how your labor is going, before making a solid decision. For me it made sense to get the antibiotics. I have no allergies to antibiotics and don't take them very often at all, so no tolerances built up either, I've never (knock on wood) had a yeast infection, and as a first time mother, my labor was likely to go long. But your mileage may vary.

[pamamidwife]

50% of all babies that are seriously injured or die because of GBS are pre-term.

It's important to reinforce that antibiotics during labor are not the answer. If you're a woman who has a high rate of urinary tract infections, bacterial vaginal infections or yeast infections, you're at a higher rate for increased colonization of GBS.

Nearly 40% of all women carry GBS in our bodies. Nearly every baby does fine - and there is some belief that antibodies cross the placenta (our bodies/nature/God are not stupid!). However, for some babies, usually those with other issues (preterm, born with any oxygen deprivation, etc), GBS is a serious issue.

GBS is also transient. This means you could be negative at the screening, but positive at birth - and vice versa.

Surely keeping your provider's fingers out of your vagina prenatally and in labor reduces the risk with or without ruptured membranes.

I'm all for treating your whole body system - probiotics like lactobicillus and a garlic clove vaginally once a week helps increase your natural vaginal flora. You could take steps that would naturally increase your body's ability to regulate itself and pretend like you are positive.

I guess with any testing, the question always is: what will you do with the info? Can your mw give you antibiotics? Do you want antibiotics? What would the choices be if you were positive?

In our country, vs other countries, we make a bigger deal of GBS. However, we also create far more infections because of the way births are done in this country. To say that GBS is to blame alone for full-term, healthy baby deaths or injuries might be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I think there are many more issues here, but I always wonder why some babies do well to moms who are highly colonized and some do not. To me, it's more about what's going on with the baby than the mom.