Group B strep: A very unfortunate part of my labor - Page 2

[Belle]

Originally Posted by gabs

... I declined epidural.

They offered you an epidural at a homebirth!?

[alegna]

Originally Posted by Belle

They offered you an epidural at a homebirth!?

I don't think she said she had a homebirth. Given that and the length of time before her child was sick I wonder if they got GBS in the hospital not from her.

Also, if she'd done the antibiotics, there was a decent chance her child could have ended up just as ill from E coli.

-Angela

[Belle]

Originally Posted by alegna

I don't think she said she had a homebirth. Given that and the length of time before her child was sick I wonder if they got GBS in the hospital not from her.

-Angela

The title of her post was GBS and Homebirth.

[felix23]

Originally Posted by alegna

I don't think she said she had a homebirth. Given that and the length of time before her child was sick I wonder if they got GBS in the hospital not from her.

Also, if she'd done the antibiotics, there was a decent chance her child could have ended up just as ill from E coli.

-Angela

My sister had a home birth and her son ended up in the PICU for a week as a result of GBS. It does happen and it can be very serious when in does. She had tested positive, but refused antibiotics and tried natural treatments. Sometimes modern medicine can be good.

[columbusmomma]

Thanks for the info and link. to you and your baby. My cousin lost a baby to GBS.

[columbusmomma]

Thanks to gabs for the link!

[Birth&Bunnies]

Originally Posted by gabs

I gave birth a healthy child that became sick of GBS (sepsis and meningitis, early onset) because I did not receive the corresponding antibiotic during labor. I did not have ANY of the risk factors, the chances for my baby to get sick were so low!!! I started labor when I was at 40 weeks, no premature membrane rupture, I declined epidural. Everything was fine until 2 days after my son was born, he started having seizures. He tested positive for GBS everywhere…After this horrible experience, even when the chances are very low, I would never take them if by doing that I am risking my baby’s life. Is it worth the risk? Treatment according to CDC Guidelines consists of intravenous administration of ampicillin every four hours during labor. This does not require a continuous IV infusion, only a heplock, which still enables moms to move around freely and have the waterbirth they dream of. I would never advice a gbs positive mother to not take the antibiotics, that SO irresponsible!!!!. GBS has to be taken seriously. For more information visit http://www.groupbstrepinternational.org/

That is very sad for you. However, if we treated all people for the low percent factor, then all VBAC women should just have repeat c-sec? All breech babies should be c-sec? All women should have a hysterectomy following birth to prevent hemorrhaging? And certainly no pain relievers should be used since that has a chance of morbidity. All women with an STD should never attempt a vaginal birth?

[BugMacGee]

there was a decent chance her child could have ended up just as ill from E coli.

This is actually not true. I have a hard copy of the research at home (it was addressed at a perinatal conference I attended) I'm at work waiting for a 31 weeker. I'll try to find it online.

And GBS is not a nosocomial infection.

[SublimeBirthGirl]

I was negative with my 1st, but had decided by the time I had my 2nd that I wouldn't do antibiotics anyway so I didn't get tested. The risk of the baby getting sick without abx is about 1 in 200 or 1 in 250 depending on where you look; abx drop it to 1 in 4,000 so they do make a difference. But abx aren't without risks and side effects themselves, including an increase in the risk of other types of illnesses.

If I had to have a hospital birth again, I'd decline the test. If they wanted to give me abx I'd refuse. If they wanted to keep us for 3 days I'd sign out AMA. But you'd have to practically wrestle me into a hospital in the first place, so...

[georgia]

I have a friend, IRL, who tested GBS+, had the entire protocol of IV abx, and her baby was still Group B+ and very ill. Very tragic beginning

[Tapioca]

I was GBS+ before labour as well. I remember reading a story of a woman in NZ, where antibiotics are given routinely to every labouring woman, regardless of GBS status, whose baby died anyway of GBS. IN SPITE of antibiotics.

There are no guarantees.

In the end (I also had a homebirth) I decided to go on antibiotics if more than 12 hours passed after my water had broken and my labour hadn't started. As it happened, my baby was born 5 hours after my water broke so I never had them. She was fine.

[Tapioca]

I can't be bothered editing, so I'll just add here:

I'm not minimizing what happened to you at all. If I were in your shoes, I would probably feel the same way. But it's clear there is no magic bullet for GBS, sadly.

[MamasBoys]

GBS is a hot topic. I tested positive in my last pregnancy and my (homebirth) midwife (in Washington state they are licensed or certified professional midwifes) felt very strongly that antibiotics should be used. I had a Heplock and took 2 doses.

Every homebirth midwife I've spoken to strongly advises antibiotics. The risk is low, but if it was YOUR baby, it would be tremendous.

[Proverbs31]

Gabs: I'm so sorry that happened to you . Did you test positive for GBS, as well? What troubles me is that the testing and treatment seems so arbitrary: you can test negative for GBS but then be positive at the time of labor (and not be given abx) or test positive but be negative a the time of labor (and given abx anyway). Or test positive in one pregnancy but negative in the next and STILL be given abx. I've been reading about a faster test that can be done right before or during labor, which leads me to wonder why it isn't widely used yet...

[Tapioca]

Not so here.

I had the actual research at the time, courtesy of the midwives, and it wasn't clear that antibiotics made that much of a difference unless there were certain risk factors at play (> greater than 12 hours since water broke before labour started, etc). I remember one study talked about the risk of GBS becoming antibiotic resistant due to overuse of antibiotics. Another issue was the effect of such doses of antibiotics on a newborn.

Yeah, it really doesn't seem that black and white to me. Do your research.

[MyBoysBlue]

Originally Posted by mama in the forest

I birth my babies unassisted, with GSB. I treat it by using herbs to boost my immune system. It can be done.

This was me too. I argued with my Doc at 38 weeks after testing positive, after my 36 week appt. I refused the antibiotics - he told me to find another doc. I did. My husband. I was prepared for a UC because my first labour was really short and I new I might have one even if I didn't want it. Which I did want but I kept seeing the doc up to that point as a back up. I took the Probiotics, Vitamin C, and Garlic for 1 week 4 days after I found out I was positive. DS was fine.

[the_lissa]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

Not so here.

I had the actual research at the time, courtesy of the midwives, and it wasn't clear that antibiotics made that much of a difference unless there were certain risk factors at play (> greater than 12 hours since water broke before labour started, etc). I remember one study talked about the risk of GBS becoming antibiotic resistant due to overuse of antibiotics. Another issue was the effect of such doses of antibiotics on a newborn.

Yeah, it really doesn't seem that black and white to me. Do your research.

Yes we are creating antibiotic resistant strains of gbs now.

[BugMacGee]

Resistant strains are a risk for very low birthweight infants. this is due to the fact that many have multiple exposures prior to birth as infection is often the cause of pre term labor. It's very rarely a problem with big term kiddos. (again, info from conference)

Organisms can become reisitant to anything you expose them to without killling off every single one of them. I predict a huge number of hand sanitizer resistant bugs evolving.

[Moonprysm]

I planned a UC but ended up in the hospital with pre-e. They tested me as I was admitted since I was 35w 5 days and hadn't been tested yet. I was positive. They gave me the abx but DS was born 4 hours later, so technically it wasn't long enough for him to get them. Because I was tested right before DS was born, I KNOW I was pos. when I gave birth. The abx didn't have time to take effect and yet he was still perfectly fine, even being a PREEMIE. *gasp* What we did end up with was 2 months of thrush that wouldn't go away and did a lot of damage to our nursing relationship.

Needless to say, my next baby will be a UC and there will be no abx.

[Kitten]

My grandmother broke her hip a few months ago and picked up MRSA in the hospital from her surgery. She was very, very ill. She is still very, very ill. She will probably never truly recover and was just hospitalized again today with complications. Her surgical site STILL has not closed and healed, due to the infection.

This is what happens when we hand out antibiotics to every Tom, Dick, and Harry. They don't work when we really need them.

Antibiotics should be saved for people who really need them. Solely testing positive for GBS is not a good enough reason.