Ques about Group B Strep

Well, I just tested positive for group B strep. I'm 30 weeks along
right now. I've done some poking around the internet and am trying
not to get too worried about it, but this is what I've found so far
that I should do/pay attention to:

* Avoid getting my membranes stripped (which my midwives do tend to
do, but I won't have it done this time!)
* Avoid the fetal scalp monitoring unless absolutely necessary and if
possible after a couple of hours of antibiotics
* As few cervical checks as possible (less than 4 - 6)
* No arom

None of those should be a problem based on my last couple of births,
however, I'm a little worried about getting in the antiobiotics. It's
supposed to be two doses, 4 hours apart. Well, with my last labor,
contractions started mildly in the evening, then pretty much stopped
during the night except for one big contraction at 3AM. When I got up
at 6AM, contractions started again. I expected 3-4 hours of labor at
least based on baby #1. At 7:30 AM I left for the hospital and had ds
at 9:30. So supposing I went into the hospital when labor really
started (6AM), that's still only 3.5 hours - not enough time for two
doses of antibiotics (not to mention the 45 min. drive to the
hospital). That has me somewhat worried, but I guess I can't do
anything about that - I'll get there as soon as I can.

Is there anything I can/should do to try to get rid of the strep b?
I've seen a few things on the net about natural things I can do
including propolus capsules, echinacea root, garlic, etc, but at this
point haven't discussed anything with the midwife or even looked into
it at all. Has anyone done anything to try to clear it up prior to
birth? Thanks for any info/experiences!

This is a concern for me too, as my son tested positive for strep B, but
interestingly about a day post-partum I tested neg. Not to scare you, but he
was stillborn (they don't think because of the strep). Sorry to piggyback on
your post, but I wondered how common it is to actually test _neg_ for strep
B and have it show up in the baby. Does anyone know?
Thanks for that info.

"KD" wrote in message
...
Well, I just tested positive for group B strep. I'm 30 weeks along
right now. I've done some poking around the internet and am trying
not to get too worried about it, but this is what I've found so far
that I should do/pay attention to:

* Avoid getting my membranes stripped (which my midwives do tend to
do, but I won't have it done this time!)
* Avoid the fetal scalp monitoring unless absolutely necessary and if
possible after a couple of hours of antibiotics
* As few cervical checks as possible (less than 4 - 6)
* No arom

None of those should be a problem based on my last couple of births,
however, I'm a little worried about getting in the antiobiotics. It's
supposed to be two doses, 4 hours apart. Well, with my last labor,
contractions started mildly in the evening, then pretty much stopped
during the night except for one big contraction at 3AM. When I got up
at 6AM, contractions started again. I expected 3-4 hours of labor at
least based on baby #1. At 7:30 AM I left for the hospital and had ds
at 9:30. So supposing I went into the hospital when labor really
started (6AM), that's still only 3.5 hours - not enough time for two
doses of antibiotics (not to mention the 45 min. drive to the
hospital). That has me somewhat worried, but I guess I can't do
anything about that - I'll get there as soon as I can.

Is there anything I can/should do to try to get rid of the strep b?
I've seen a few things on the net about natural things I can do
including propolus capsules, echinacea root, garlic, etc, but at this
point haven't discussed anything with the midwife or even looked into
it at all. Has anyone done anything to try to clear it up prior to
birth? Thanks for any info/experiences!

"KD" wrote in message
...
Well, I just tested positive for group B strep. I'm 30 weeks along
right now. I've done some poking around the internet and am trying
not to get too worried about it, but this is what I've found so far
that I should do/pay attention to:

* Avoid getting my membranes stripped (which my midwives do tend to
do, but I won't have it done this time!)
* Avoid the fetal scalp monitoring unless absolutely necessary and if
possible after a couple of hours of antibiotics
* As few cervical checks as possible (less than 4 - 6)
* No arom

None of those should be a problem based on my last couple of births,
however, I'm a little worried about getting in the antiobiotics. It's
supposed to be two doses, 4 hours apart. Well, with my last labor,
contractions started mildly in the evening, then pretty much stopped
during the night except for one big contraction at 3AM. When I got up
at 6AM, contractions started again. I expected 3-4 hours of labor at
least based on baby #1. At 7:30 AM I left for the hospital and had ds
at 9:30. So supposing I went into the hospital when labor really
started (6AM), that's still only 3.5 hours - not enough time for two
doses of antibiotics (not to mention the 45 min. drive to the
hospital). That has me somewhat worried, but I guess I can't do
anything about that - I'll get there as soon as I can.

Is there anything I can/should do to try to get rid of the strep b?
I've seen a few things on the net about natural things I can do
including propolus capsules, echinacea root, garlic, etc, but at this
point haven't discussed anything with the midwife or even looked into
it at all. Has anyone done anything to try to clear it up prior to
birth? Thanks for any info/experiences!

I think you need to consider whether the evidence is really there for IV
antibiotics as a routine measure for GBS colonization when no other risk
factors are present (like prolonged rupture of membranes or prematurity).
Is the chance that your baby will be injured from GBS (very low, esp. w/o
risk factors) worth the chance that your baby will be injured by the
antibiotics (e.g., death from e. coli infection) and on top of it the chance
that you guys will get thrush --

-- Dagny

Not necessarily - I had to have antibiotics both times because of GBS and we
have never had thrush. Given the risks of delivering a baby when you are
positive for GBS, I would definitely get the antibiotics. There was a baby
from our pregnancy list that died because the mom didn't test for GBS and
ended up having it.

Amy

I think you need to consider whether the evidence is really there for IV
antibiotics as a routine measure for GBS colonization when no other risk
factors are present (like prolonged rupture of membranes or prematurity).
Is the chance that your baby will be injured from GBS (very low, esp. w/o
risk factors) worth the chance that your baby will be injured by the
antibiotics (e.g., death from e. coli infection) and on top of it the
chance
that you guys will get thrush --

-- Dagny

On Mon, 09 Feb 2004 21:06:17 GMT, (KD) wrote:

None of those should be a problem based on my last couple of births,
however, I'm a little worried about getting in the antiobiotics. It's
supposed to be two doses, 4 hours apart. Well, with my last labor,
contractions started mildly in the evening, then pretty much stopped
during the night except for one big contraction at 3AM. When I got up
at 6AM, contractions started again. I expected 3-4 hours of labor at
least based on baby #1. At 7:30 AM I left for the hospital and had ds
at 9:30. So supposing I went into the hospital when labor really
started (6AM), that's still only 3.5 hours - not enough time for two
doses of antibiotics (not to mention the 45 min. drive to the
hospital). That has me somewhat worried, but I guess I can't do
anything about that - I'll get there as soon as I can.

When my waters broke with #3 they decided to treat me as if I was
Group B Strep positive just in case since she was going to be
premature. There was only time for one IV dose between going into
labour and her being born so they spent a little more time monitoring
her for potential infection than usual. If they can get one dose into
you it's better than none, and if you are planning to stay for at
least 24 hours they can keep an eye on your baby's temperature to see
if there is any infection. It's not like there is anything else they
can do really unless you choose to be induced and even then it would
mean that they would have to give you the first and second antibiotic
doses before they started the induction.

--
Cheryl
Mum to DS#1 (11 Mar 99), DS#2 (4 Oct 00)
and DD (30 Jul 02)

KD wrote:


None of those should be a problem based on my last couple of births,
however, I'm a little worried about getting in the antiobiotics. It's
supposed to be two doses, 4 hours apart. Well, with my last labor,
contractions started mildly in the evening, then pretty much stopped
during the night except for one big contraction at 3AM. When I got up
at 6AM, contractions started again. I expected 3-4 hours of labor at
least based on baby #1. At 7:30 AM I left for the hospital and had ds
at 9:30. So supposing I went into the hospital when labor really
started (6AM), that's still only 3.5 hours - not enough time for two
doses of antibiotics (not to mention the 45 min. drive to the
hospital). That has me somewhat worried, but I guess I can't do
anything about that - I'll get there as soon as I can.

Is there anything I can/should do to try to get rid of the strep b?
I've seen a few things on the net about natural things I can do
including propolus capsules, echinacea root, garlic, etc, but at this
point haven't discussed anything with the midwife or even looked into
it at all. Has anyone done anything to try to clear it up prior to
birth? Thanks for any info/experiences!


There are a bunch of discussions about it on
http://www.gentlebirth.org, wherein a bunch of people
claim success with various remedies. To the best of
my knowledge, however, none of them have been studied
scientifically besides prophylactic antibiotics during
labor. Actually, I think there were some studies
comparing antibiotics during labor with antibiotics
prior to labor which found that antibiotics during labor
were more effective. It could well be that many of
these other treatments at least reduce the colonization,
but we just don't really know.
That said, I wouldn't wig out over this. Of course
it would be ideal to get both doses of antibiotics in.
Still, if your labor is short, then your baby will be
exposed for less time (especially if your membranes
remain intact as long as possible). Even without
prophylactic antibiotics, the vast majority of babies
born to GBS+ moms are just fine.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Amy wrote:

This is a concern for me too, as my son tested positive for strep B, but
interestingly about a day post-partum I tested neg. Not to scare you, but he
was stillborn (they don't think because of the strep). Sorry to piggyback on
your post, but I wondered how common it is to actually test _neg_ for strep
B and have it show up in the baby. Does anyone know?
Thanks for that info.


I don't know how common it is, but it would
certainly be possible. After all, a negative GBS culture
reduces the risk of the baby being infected, but it
doesn't eliminate it. Your colonization can come and
go (which is why many caregivers will always treat you
as GBS+ if you've ever tested positive). If the baby
was exposed prior to birth rather than during birth,
he could have had an infection even though later on
you tested negative. I imagine it would also depend
on how you were tested. IIRC, strep b can be implicated
in chorioamnionitis, but I don't know that a vaginal swab

would necessarily catch that.


Best wishes,
Ericka

Well, if it's like my last birth (and I know there are no guarantees
and every birth is different) then my water was broken by the midwife
about 30 minutes before ds was born. I was already just about fully
dilated and was pushing, so she broke my water. Sounds like that
would be an ideal situation.

But what sort of risk factors are their with the antibiotics/e. coli?
From what I read (which wasn't much yet) the antibiotics are safe and
shouldn't affect the baby. I haven't seen anything about e. coli -
where would that come in?

Just curious. Thanks!

On Mon, 09 Feb 2004 21:57:06 GMT, "Dagny" wrote:

I think you need to consider whether the evidence is really there for IV
antibiotics as a routine measure for GBS colonization when no other risk
factors are present (like prolonged rupture of membranes or prematurity).
Is the chance that your baby will be injured from GBS (very low, esp. w/o
risk factors) worth the chance that your baby will be injured by the
antibiotics (e.g., death from e. coli infection) and on top of it the chance
that you guys will get thrush --

-- Dagny

"Ericka Kammerer" wrote in message
...
Amy wrote:

This is a concern for me too, as my son tested positive for strep B, but
interestingly about a day post-partum I tested neg. Not to scare you,
but he
was stillborn (they don't think because of the strep). Sorry to
piggyback on
your post, but I wondered how common it is to actually test _neg_ for
strep
B and have it show up in the baby. Does anyone know?
Thanks for that info.


I don't know how common it is, but it would
certainly be possible. After all, a negative GBS culture
reduces the risk of the baby being infected, but it
doesn't eliminate it. Your colonization can come and
go (which is why many caregivers will always treat you
as GBS+ if you've ever tested positive). If the baby
was exposed prior to birth rather than during birth,
he could have had an infection even though later on
you tested negative. I imagine it would also depend
on how you were tested. IIRC, strep b can be implicated
in chorioamnionitis, but I don't know that a vaginal swab

would necessarily catch that.


Best wishes,
Ericka


That's interesting Ericka, because my son's death was never explained, but
his placenta appeared 'abnormal', as though there had been a bleed. To my
frustration it was never sent away for testing as I requested. Do you know
any stats on the recurrance of something like this?

Amy wrote:


That's interesting Ericka, because my son's death was never explained, but
his placenta appeared 'abnormal', as though there had been a bleed. To my
frustration it was never sent away for testing as I requested. Do you know
any stats on the recurrance of something like this?


Unfortunately, no I don't. If I get a chance, I'll
try to see what I can find though. Things are a little
hectic right now. If you don't hear from me, send me an
email and poke me about it in a week or so when I should
be seeing a bit more daylight ;-) Or, of you like, you
can try searching yourself at:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/

Take care,
Ericka