Natural Remedies for GBS positive

[naturegirl]

Well my GBS test came back positive and I am looking for some natural remedies to lessen my risk of transmission. I think the odds of passing on the infection are low, especially if my water doesn't break until pushing stage like it did with ds and having a water birth, but I would like to do what I can to lessen the "colony" I am not big on putting things "up there" such as garlic, etc although I did that last night. Any suggestions are welcome. (and the more straight forward the better as I feel the baby will arrive in the next 7 days and I don't want to do a whole complicated regime every day.

Thanks, I know I am asking a lot...

[Three~Little~Birds]

Eating garlic and taking probiotics are supposed to help.

[redebeth]

I was positive with my last baby, but this baby I was negative after a week of tea tree oil suppositories and lavender peri-rinse, lots of Vit. C and echinacea and goldenseal(I don't recommend the goldenseal, it hurt my stomach) and I didn't DTD for a week or so while I was self treating.

My midwife mentioned doing a vaginal exam and culture if i did come up positive this time to see how heavily colonized i was. However, I didn't have to.

Like, you can be slightly, moderately or heavily colonized so that might give you a better idea of where you are at and what your risks and treatment options are. So see if you can get an exam/culture instead of another swab.

[redebeth]

Oh, and I wanted to add that Propolis, probiotics and garlic are all great too.

[naturegirl]

Can you buy tea tree oil suppositories or did you make them somehow? I just found out I was + last night and did a garlic clove "suppository" and topical tea tree oil "down there". I have also taken a bath with tea tree oil and will start taking probiotics either today or tomorrow. (I have to check to see if the ones I have are expired. )

I don't know if I will make it to another appt. I think this baby may come before my next one. I am really okay not doing the antibiotics and so is my mw so I really am just doing this to do all I can naturally to lower any culture, if that makes sense...

[naturegirl]

Oh and I also read online that semen has a natural anti-bacterial effect so dtd can be helpful. Anyone else hear or know about this? My dh would sure be happy and it would beat the garlic clove.

[redebeth]

I bought the suppositories but they were expensive and i'm pretty sure there is a way to make them with tampons.

Women have reported good results with a hibiclense douche, too. You could just not worry about it and when labor starts give yourself an antibacterial douche. Calendula was my midwife's suggestion.

I was going to have my midwife do IV antibiotics, but my daughter came so fast my midwife walked in the door 3 minutes after she was born. So, nothing was done and i had a perfectly healthy baby.

[texanatheart]

I don't know if this will help at all, but when I was pregnant w/ds, I took a garlic supplement for the couple weeks before I was tested for GBS, and the test result was negative. I kept taking it until he was born, and it stayed away.

[fyoosh]

Some links that may be helpful:

http://www.joyousbirth.info/articles...lapproach.html
http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/gbs.html
http://www.preciouspassage.com/treat...up_b_strep.htm

[KnittingTigers]

I tested positive on my first GBS test, and discovered that the hospital was going to hassle me through the roof if I declined the antibiotics. So, I asked for a retest, and douched with hibiclens beforehand. The test came back negative, so now I'm in the clear as far as the hospital is concerned.

I do want to be responsible about reducing my risk of transmission, so I plan to do a hibiclens douche every four hours during labor until I go to the hospital, which is the protocol for homebirth midwives around here.

The douche procedure was very simple. Here's what I did-

Bought a disposable douche kit at CVS, and a bottle of hibiclens. Discarded the douche solution (vinegar and water) that was in the kit, and rinsed the bottle. Put in about a quarter inch of hibiclens, and filled the rest with warm water. Used the bottle to douche per regular package instructions.

I realize that this isn't a "natural" treatment for GBS, but for me, it felt a lot less invasive than the antibiotics, and was relatively quick and easy.

Good luck!

[heatherRN]

I came back positive a little over a week ago. My MW has me taking Grapefruit seed extract 15 drops, garlic, vit C 500mg w/bioflavanoids, probiotics (at least 5 bill per capsule) all twice a day, and I am douching with hydrogen peroxide every other day and inserting a probiotic capsule vaginal on the other day. I am retesting tomorrow.