Hi

I'm not sure if this is the right place to put this.

During my booking in appointment they sent a rountine urine sample to the lab, It came back positive for group b strep. A bacteria which can be passed onto the baby during labour and can cause serious illness and death in newborns.

I have been trying to research this on the web and can find technical answers but no real life accounts as to what to expect. I know i'll have to recieve iv antibiotics during labour but my last labour was very quick and i have already been warned there might not be enough time to give these life saving drugs.

has anyone been through similar and can offer advice and real life experience to help me to understand whats in store.

Thank you

Hi Jackie,

A friend of mine had this, and she's delivered 2 healthy babies. Basically as soon as she thought she was in labour ( and after 3 false alarms!!) she went straight to hosptial, and they did the drip, and everything was fine.

As for your quick labour - if they're you're really worried about it being too quick to get the IV, then why don't you ask to be induced??? That way everything will be on hand and you don't have to worry.

Hope this helps -

marnie

Thanks for the advice, my first baby was eleven days early so i don't think they'd induce me that early but it is something i can definatly discuss with my midwife.

Thank you

Luckily I came on this forum and noticed that other people are having to deal with this problem, it's not just me. I had a swab done because I was bleeding slighty, thank heavens our baby is fine but the hospital phoned me up the next morning to tell me that I had Group B Strepp. They sent me out a leaflet about it, which put my mind at ease but also scared me a bit because of what this can cause to new borns. But after speaking to the midwife yesterday she put my mind at ease about it all, she told me I would probbly be in hospital slightly longer than normal so they can swab the baby and i'll be put on an iv antibiotic drip also.

x

hi hon

most hospitals have the policy that if you dont get the antibiotics in time then your baby does. this usually means 48 hrs in hospital, while your baby has 4 lots of IV antibiotics, just as a precaution.

as with any baby, it is usual signs of infection you'd look for -

floppy, unresponsive, funny colour, high pitch cry, temperature (most units keep an eye on their temperature for the 48hrs anyway), poor feeding

try not to worry too much - most babies are absolutely fine. it is actually a bonus (?!) in some respects you know, as many women dont find out until their lo is ill!!

xxxxxxxxx