Ugh - not again - GBS question

[mamatosaskia]

Hi,

I am a GBS carrier and I am one of the .5% of women whose babies contract GBS during labor. Dd spent two weeks in the NICU on continuous antibiotics.

I am now about 9 weeks and at my first prenatal appointment they found GBS in my urine. I have been given amoxicillin with the hopes that it won't colonize again.

So, my question...what are some good natural remedies to help fight off GBS? I know that mothering had an article about this a few years back (I have a copy) but am wondering what you all have used?

Thanks so much! I would love to avoid antibiotics during labor, and during the entire pregnancy, if possible.

jacqueline

[ohiomommy1122]

I was GBS pos w/ my last pregnancy and it was in my urine as well what I have read/ heard is that given antibiotics during pregnancy can only lower the bacterial count for a short time, so they usually only give it to you torward the end of your pregnancy and during labor, Hope that helps.

[Dea]

I've been told that semen can help kill the bacteria. (told by my bradley instructor, whom I trust implicitly)

[Pastrydemon]

I've been taking a big spoonful of Bio-K Plus probiotics daily for a couple of months. I tested negative. I have no idea if this helped but I was told that it's effective in preventing colonization of GBS in the vagina and gut (and I assume the bladder too).

Good luck to you!

[Ironica]

Getting some good probiotics can help with the bacterial balance in your body, lowering the counts of "bad" bacteria (like GBS) by upping the counts of "good" bacteria that out-compete them.

Sacchromyces Boulardii is a probiotic yeast that helps to restore gut bacteria dysbiosis, too, though no one's been able to pin down exactly *why* it does this. Since it dies off within 3-5 days after ingestion, though, it's considered very safe and is routinely given to immunocompromised patients after or with antibiotics to ward off antibiotic-induced diarrhea. It can be used with a conventional multi-strain bacterial probiotic.

You did have a baby who contracted GBS... I wouldn't say that means that you ALWAYS have babies who contract GBS, though. But I can understand why it would make you nervous! I found the CDC numbers and did the math a few weeks ago, and for full-term infants born to GBS+ mothers, the death rate from GBS infection is about 1 in 13,615. That's lower than the risk of an anaphylactic reaction to penicillin (1 in 10,000, which is a risk for both mom *and* baby, and is a risk at every exposure, so early exposure can make it more likely to happen later even if it doesn't happen during labor or at birth).

There's also the "garlic protocol" which you can find descriptions of on the web; mostly, it consists of inserting a clove of garlic into your vagina each night, after nicking/poking it all around so it releases whatever it is that makes it a foe to bad bacteria. I'd do that in combo with probiotics, however.