gbs and breastfeeding

[snugglebug14]

does anyone know if breastfeeding confers any kind of immunity/antibodies to a baby that is or may be gbs pos? i would assume since mom would have antibodies against it, it would transfer but whether it is effective/sufficient i don't know. i would really like to see research on it

[Ackray]

I don't think so. GBS is a bacteria and I don't think that you build antibodies to bacteria, especially since gbs is a topical non-infection to the mommy host.

[Midwife Kris]

Yes, you can build antibodies to viruses and bacteria and there is talk of developing a vaccine. I'm not sure what you mean by GBS being a "topical non-infection to the mommy host". GBS isn't a pregnancy problem, it's a problem for anyone whose immune system is weak from neonates to elderly to diabetic and HIV+.

ps: I think the original poster as an interesting question!

[Ackray]

GBS can be a normal body flora for some people and not an infection. It is topical like a yeast infection and not in your blood stream so I don't see how antibodies would be built against it. An actual infection from it would only be in an immune compromised person.

[Mamabeakley]

I could be totally wrong about this so I'll pose it as more of a question than an answer to the OP: isn't it likely that quite a lot of babies DO get GBS from their + moms, but that because it isn't a problem in a healthy body most of them do not get sick?