Pregnant with G.B.S.
QUESTION
Dear Midwife,
Hi there I am 38 weeks pregnant and my test results came back positive for Group B Strep. My O.B. didnt really give me a hole lot of information to go off of she just was kind of general about it and acted as though there was nothing to worry about that it was normal. I looked it up and now I am a little worried about the chances of me giving birth and the baby having it.
My question is or questions... are one can the baby get the group b strep before the labor? Can the baby contract it while still in the uterus?
Two I have been pretty consistent with urinary tract infections through out my hole pregnancy and I am wondering if that means that I have a higher chance of passing the group b on to the baby even with the antibiotics?
And three if something were to go wrong and the baby does contract it, what do the doctors do about it? Is there anything that the doctor can do?
ANSWER
As long as your bag of waters hasn't broken, the baby is protected. You should have been offered IV antibiotics during labor and explained how they protect the baby. If you get your dose 4 hours before the baby is born, or better yet get a second dose (they give them every 4 hours unless you are allergic to penicillin), then the baby is protected. Which is why she didn't seem very concerned. But she should have explained all this to you, rather than having you get all scared from the internet.
If your baby manages to get it anyway, then the baby would be the one getting the antibiotics in a NICU, which we'd all like to avoid.
-- Cynthia, CNM. PhD.
Cynthia Flynn
Cynthia Flynn, CNM. PhD, is the General Director of the Family Health and Birth Center which provides prenatal, birth, postnatal, gynecological and primary health care to underserved women and their families in Washington, D.C. Recently Cynthia served as Associate Professor of Nursing at Seattle University. There she not only taught, but remained in full scope clinical midwifery practice at Valley Medical Center where she cared for pregnant and birthing women, and practices well-woman gynecology, family planning, and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases.
Cynthia founded Columbia Women's Clinic and Birth Center, where she took care of pregnant women and infants up to two weeks of age and attended both birth center and hospital births. Before Cynthia earned her CNM, she worked as a registered nurse in labor and delivery and postpartum and is a certified Doula and Doula trainer.
