type b strep

[rachelhsd]

I'm 5 months pregnant with my third child, and have type b strep. I'm not looking forward to my baby and I being stuck to iv's during our hospital stay. The antibiotics given can really hurt when they enter. Does anyone have any info about natural ways to treat or cure it; herbs, vitamins, ect...
Thanks, Rachel

[mochimama]

Hi Rachel,
I just found out I am GBS+ and am pregnant with my first. Do the antibiotics really hurt when they're administered? I am also interested to hear if anyone out there knows of more natural remedies as I really want this to be a drug free birth.

[Triciabn]

Okay long time GBS veterern here, lol. It really is not the big deal they make it out to be. Seriously.
First off google search Gloria Lemay and GBS... you will find her remedy for it. I haven't been diligent enough at it to make it happen..however, my friend did it and when she retested she was negative. So it works for people who actually follow through with it.
I just don't see it as that big of threat. When I labor (UC) I drink lots of Emergen C and watch my temp...after the baby is born I keep an eye on them (like any new mother would) and so far nothing has ever happened.
Antibiotics.... the IV ones (When I used to do that kind of thing) were not terrible on my system...because, I take probiotics religiously every morning. The first time I ever did the IV antibiotics it wreaked havoc on me and I was sick for over a year... so if you do opt to take them...make sure you have probiotics waiting in the fridge at home.
If I were you...and I was once, I say research:
*the % of women who are positive for GBS
*the % of newborns who get sick from GBS (can be taken care of at home)
*the % of newborns who get really sick from GBS (requireing hosptial time)
*the % of newborns who get sick with moms who did and didn't take the antibiotics.
*things that would make you more apt to take antibiotics...ie. water broke for over 18hours and things like that.
*things to make you amniotic sac stronger.... because if it doesn't break till the last second (or whatever) then the GBS is really a non factor. PRetty important thing...when you are deciding to take antibiotcis or not.
However.... my water is ALWAYS gushing for over 24 hours...so it really is about knowing your stuff.
And just because you are + with one pregnancy does not mean you are postiive for every pregnancy...and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It may be so colonized at one point that you turn up +...but on the very next day, it could be so diminished that you would turn up -.

I think it would be more effective for your empowerment if you did your own research... but hopefully this is a start. Have fun... and don't worry to much...it is not really that big of deal.
Tricia

[nonconformnmom]

I had group b strep with my two last pregnancies and the first one they used penicillin and it hurt like hell going in! It hurt worse than the contractions did and I was complaining about it. So with the baby after that, when I had group B strep again, I asked my ob about it. She said there is another type of antibiotic they can use that doesn't sting as much. I can't remember the name of it ... it ends in "__myacin" I think. Anyway, they used that for my last baby and I didn't feel it going in at all.

Just don't go in until the contractions really start to hurt, so you won't be confined to a bed for as long. It takes 30 minutes per bag to get in, and you need two bags of it, so there's usually enough time to get both doses before starting to push.

I had pain med-free hospital birth-center births with both of my group b strep babies.

[maxmama]

You can use clindamycin or vancomycin for GBS prophylaxis. If penicillin is used, it should be mixed with lidocaine and run in over 45 minutes instead of the usual 30; it makes a huge difference in pain.

I am in favor of GBS prophylaxis because I've seen babies go from perfectly healthy to septic (one died) in less than six hours. GBS sepsis isn't common, but it's fast and virulent, which is the purpose of prophylaxis. If an untreated GBS baby ends up in on a rule-out sepsis because they look sick, they're in for an LP, a cath and IV antibiotics. I'd go for the antibiotics in labor any day.

[nonconformnmom]

clindamycin

That's IT! :D :thumb

[iveyrock]

Just wanted to add my experience really quick...
When I had Ian I was Strep B positive, they didn't even tell me until I was in the hospital for preterm labor. I went full term, but even with antibiotics, developed an infection of the uterus, and Ian was born with pnemonia. (the baby can get pnemonia even if your uterus doesn't get infected, but it's more likely if you have the uterus infection... I can't remember the official name right now). Ian was in the NICU for 2 weeks, but was ultimately fine.
So, I am really not trying to scare you... odds are very high that nothing will happen. But it also isn't something I would completely blow off, either. And that being said, the fact is, we had the antibiotics and still got sick... so it's not like they are the perfect solution either. Also, it's something that comes and goes in your body once it's there, so even if you test negative after treatments, that doesn't necesarily mean it's gone, just that it isn't active at that time. Again, I am really not trying to scare you, because it is really, really unlikely that anything will happen. But I do want to share our experience so other people can be informed.
Amber

[Mom2Ellis]

:yeah:
My SIL had Group B Strep when she was pregnant with her first child. For some reason, they never tested for it and the baby was born with horrible breathing problems. He too ended up in the NICU for at least a week on a breathing machine. Very very sad. He did turn out okay, but if you ever go through something like this with your newborn baby, I'm sure you wouldn't think twice about taking the drugs.

[milwf]

Hi, I'm brand new to this site and actually came here to research some more natural ways to help with Strep B. I searched and found this post (and it wasn't too old) so I hope you don't mind my joining in on it.

I tested positive for strep B and the plan was to get antibiotics during labor and everyone tells you it will be fine and take care of everything. Well, my labor unexpectedly went fast and hospital procedures being what they are (they wouldn't get the IV ready ahead of time even with me calling to say we were on the way and going fast) - I didn't have time for even one dose, much less the two they want. Most babies who get it show signs in 24-48 hours, mine came down with it after a few weeks. I just KNEW it had to be something else instead but they did a growth culture and it was strep B. My baby was admitted at less than a month old for 10 days of IV antibiotics and had to have a spinal tap to ensure it hadn't spread to the spinal cord and thus, put the brain at risk, too.

I am pregnant again and want nothing more than for this labor to go slow enough for me to get the full doses. I am electing to be treated with the antibiotics no matter what my test shows, because as others said - you can show up positive one day and negative right after and vice versa. I would take any amount of painful antibiotics myself rather than have another child have to go through that. Antibiotics are NOT kind on a newborn. They did save him, though.

Having said all of that - I want to do EVERYTHING I can on my end to prevent this baby from getting it, too. So I'm researching what I can do on top of the antibiotics in case this labor goes fast, too.

I'm not trying to scare you into taking the antibiotics, I just happened to be one of the unlucky ones who did not meet the criteria for worrying about strep B being passed to the baby - water broke RIGHT before head came out, no fever, etc. - and we got it anyway. I just wanted to share my story so that whatever choice you make, you do all that you can with it because 10 days in IV antibiotics for a newborn is heartbreaking.

[CORGIDOG]

Hi. Newbie here.

My EDD is 3 weeks away (19 days actually). I had my Group B Strep test last week and don't know the results yet. I'm trying to see what the options are ahead of even knowing whether I tested positive or not.

It is nice to have such an array of info. Thanks for updating the thread!

[Tattiana]

This is a difficult issue for me because I know someone who had a terrible time with GBS and her son had brain damage from it so she has elected antibiotics for every birth to prevent the nightmare that they went through with their son. I met her after I had my 2 year old, the only baby I ever tested positive with. They tested me ALL THE TIME with my 2nd and 3rd babies because of preterm contractions and never once did I test positive. I thought that it was really weird that I tested positive with my 4th. My midwife had seen some pretty bad cases of GBS in babies so I agreed to the antibiotics hoping that probiotics after birth would help. Well, I guess that I didn't take it seriously enough because I just didn't get around to taking probiotics until I started to suspect thrush. TOO LATE, I had horrible, painful thrush for 6 plus months (nipple and ducts the side that was worst still isn't the same). I tried all the natural things to get rid of it, finally requested diflucan that did nothing (could only take it twice a week per my midwife and ins company :irked: ). Nursing was like putting my nipples through a shredder much of the time. My baby was given diflucan and nystatin at different times, but I gave up on those and went with gentian violet. We were both on probiotics and have been on them since. Yeast infections have never been a huge problem for me, and I hadn't had any antibiotics for quite some time. I don't want to go through that again , so I had considered protocol to clear my body of GBS before the test THROUGH birth. (Although, sometimes I wonder if that was a truly accurate test...) I just don't want to take chances with my child's health, either. So, I have been doing a bit of a compromise. I take garlic, vitamin C, and probiotics hoping that this keeps things in balance and I test negative this time (of course, I would continue to do what I am doing through birth). I never know when I will be tested because of my history of an irritable ute, I know they test the first time the contrax get bad and need to be tested. I should have been taking probiotics leading up to my 2 years old's birth since I knew there would be antibiotics involved. Live and learn.