I just tested GBS + :( - Page 2

[Baby_Cakes]

I always thought that if you retest and it's negative, there is no need for abx during the birth. You may want to double check that. You still have time and can take some probiotics, do the hibiclens, and hope for the best.

For my homebirth, if I were positive, my midwife would do abx and then remove the drip (I think they do a saline lock or something similar so that mom can still move around). Perhaps look into this option at the hospital. That way you can still move around and labor in whatever position you want. Take the epidural off the table. Put it in your birth plan that it should not be offered, that if you want it you will specifically ask for it. I'm not sure what you can do about the monitoring regarding your vbac status, but look into it. Maybe they can be more flexible than you imagine. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, ykwim?

Good luck! You can do this!

[youngsoul]

Oh geez, lovely post about the baby dying.

Seriously, though, the chances are small...aren't they...of something bad happening? I'm going to go re-read what Ina May says about it.

[youngsoul]

Okay, this Mothering article is quite good:

Treating Group B Strep: Are Antibiotics Necessary?
http://www.mothering.com/articles/pr...n/group-b.html

Some important excerpts:

There are three significant factors that place a woman at increased risk of delivering an infant who becomes ill from GBS: fever during labor, her water breaking 18 hours or more before delivery (prolonged rupture of membranes, or PROM), and/or labor or broken water before 37 weeks gestation.28 Other factors that can contribute to a newborn's risk of contracting GBS infection include age, economic, and medical criteria, such as the following: being born to a mother who is less than 20 years of age,29, 30 being African American,31, 32 the mother having large amounts of GBS bacteria in her vaginal tract,33-37 and being born to a mother who has given birth to a prior sibling with GBS disease.38-40

In the absence of the first three risk factors (fever during labor, PROM, or labor before 37 weeks), the risk of a newborn developing GBS infection is very small...

The recommended antibiotic for treating GBS during labor is penicillin. Fewer bacteria currently show a resistance to penicillin than to other antibiotics used to treat GBS. The options are fewer for women known to be allergic to penicillin. Up to 29 percent of GBS strains have been shown to be resistant to non-penicillin antibiotics.46 For women not known to be allergic to penicillin, there is a one in ten risk of a mild allergic reaction to penicillin, such as a rash. Even for those women who have no prior experience of a penicillin allergy, there is a one in 10,000 chance of developing anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction.

We can compare this to CDC estimates that 0.5 percent of babies born to GBS-positive mothers with no treatment will develop a GBS infection, and that 6 percent of those who develop a GBS infection will die. Six percent of 0.5 percent means that three out of every 10,000 babies born to GBS-positive mothers given no antibiotics during labor will die from GBS infection. If the mother develops anaphylaxis during labor (one in 10,000 will), and it is untreated, it is likely that the infant, too, will die. So, by CDC estimates, we save the lives of two in 10,000 babies-0.02 percent-by administering antibiotics during labor to one third of all laboring women. We should also keep in mind that this figure does not take into account the infants that will die as a result of bacteria made antibiotic-resistant by the use of antibiotics during labor-infants who would not otherwise have become ill. When you take that into account, there may not be any lives saved by using antibiotics during labor.

[Ilovelife]

Originally Posted by youngsoul

Oh geez, lovely post about the baby dying.

Seriously, though, the chances are small...aren't they...of something bad happening? I'm going to go re-read what Ina May says about it.

Horrible.

Here's another good link for info:
http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/gbs.html#Lavage

[ccasanova]

I updated on the other thread but will here as well. I've decided not to retest, since where I'm going they would want to do antibiotics even though I got a negative since it could come back theoretically. Above that though, having a positive status on my record, if I declined antibiotics, they would want to keep baby longer in hospital for observation, would want to do a 10 day dose of antibiotics on him, and would want to do horrible screening tests to see if he was infected. Maybe blood samples, or even worse, spinal fluid samples!!! No way will I want them to stick needles in baby's spine just to test! The 1 or 2 rounds at most of antibiotics for me during labor along with a hibiclens wash for good measure seems like the lesser of 2 evils to me. Although, I'm not happy about it. Good luck mamas!

[MI_Dawn]

Has anyone read anything about PREVENTING getting a GBS + test?? (sorry, I'm not in your DDC - just thought I'd ask! )

[ccasanova]

I had not. Since I have had 4 kids already, and have always been - I figured I would always be negative. I did not know that you can change readings throughout your life. Wish I had known, so I could have taken measures before getting the swab done.

[Ilovelife]

Cynthia,
I know you said the hospital would want to keep the baby longer & do tests & whatnot if you refuse the abx. But you don't sound positive about your decision. You do have the option of declining the extended stay & additional tests. You can sign your baby out AMA if need be. I'm not necessarily recommending it as I'm not a pediatrician and I know gbs disease can be very serious. But it is also extremely rare unless further complicating factors exist (PROM, etc.). I encourage you to become as informed as possible (if you haven't already) so that you can be at peace with the decision you make around this.

[VeganCupcake]

Originally Posted by MI_Dawn

Has anyone read anything about PREVENTING getting a GBS + test?? (sorry, I'm not in your DDC - just thought I'd ask! )

Yes, my midwife gave me a handout about preventative measures as well as treatments. Most of the preventative stuff is just maintaining good health--eating well, resting, good bathroom hygiene, etc. The other stuff is the kind of thing you would do if you knew you were positive, like taking a probiotic or eating probiotic foods, and taking a natural antibiotic like raw garlic (a lot of it) or grapefruit seed extract, and doing vaginal suppositories of tea tree oil or garlic, or hibiclens washes. All of those would be helpful in prevention, too.

[MI_Dawn]

Thanks!

I'm not that worried about the GBS infection itself... I think there's a 200th of a percent chance of a baby dying from GBS, even after contracting it? I'm not that worried about those odds.

But I DON'T want to test + and have to get the antibiotics. Hence the looking for preventatives. Thanks for the info!!

[Ilovelife]

You could also just refuse the test.

[MI_Dawn]

Originally Posted by Ilovelife

You could also just refuse the test.

Yeah, I am considering that - but I haven't talked to the doc yet and asked if they try to force antibiotics on every woman who refuses. (Some providers do *sigh*)

[mrsbass]

Sorry, this is not my DDC (i'm in April '09), but I saw the GBS thread and had to read...

My mom had my brother at home with a MW 14 years ago, and she (the MW)didn't test for GBS. My mom wasn't aware of this. Anyway, she went into labor at 38 wks and had been running a low-grade temp. for days. I don't remember how long she labored, but I think it was around 15-16 hours after her water broke. Anyway, her placenta wouldn't detatch. Then, when it did, she began to hemmorhage. So she was driven to the hospital, where she tested positive for beta strep and they were in the hospital for a week so they could watch my brother closely. They both came out fine, but it was really scary for the whole family.

I'm going to be on abx for MVP during labor anyway, in case of emergency c-sec (I'm a VBACer with a very supportice OB! ) and I'm going to ask him if that would cover GBS if I were to test positive. I guess I'll just be eating a lot of yogurt and taking acidophilus before and after...

I know a lot of you would handle this differently, but I guess I'm one of those that just doesn't want to take a chance on something like this, especially after watching my mom's exp. with it. Best of luck to all of you, though, and I'd love to hear how everything turns out! It's good to know there are reliable options other than the med norm out there!