Group B Strep and labour options?

My midwife has told me that my latest test results came back showing I had Group B Strep and that I will need antibiotics during labour....

I'm trying not to be worried about it but I was wondering if it will affect my labour and birth options..My birth "plan" ATM is to give birth at the Botany birth centre with little or no drugs, using a birthing pool, shower, heat etc etc as pain relief but one of my concerns is that this will have to change because of this The midwife said she will go over everything at our appt next week but there's a long weekend in the meantime and I don't want to have it playing on my mind the whole time

Does anyone know or had the same situation? Did you have to change your birth "plan"??

TIA

I don't have group B strep but I would imagine that the antibiotics will be administered to you via an IV drip. I'm not sure if that should affect the rest of your birth plan regarding no pain relief though- I don't see why it should? The IV is portable so you ought to be able to shower, bathe, move around etc. I had a drip and could move around ok.

It might mean though that you end up with 2 drips if you *do* have an augmented labour... I am guessing here though hun. It's the best for you and the baby to have the antibiotics though I'm sure

Im pretty sure if its just IV antibiotics you will be fine to birth at botany.
When i had Caden I had to have antibiotics as my waters had been broken over 12 hours, they told me Id need them when I went to pukekoke maternity for monitering after nearly 12 hours in labour, she said to me, "when you come back in the wee hours(as thats when they thought Id be back lol) you will need IV antibiotics during the rest of your labour".
She never said I needed to go to middlenore or anything. In the end I needed to go to middlemore as my labour wasnt progressing and I had meconium in the waters, nothing to do with having the IV anitbiotics, Id have been fine to birth at pukekohe if things had of gone as they were suppose too.

I hope that makes sense lol

Edited by Sheza

Oh can you have Strep b for one pg and not the others?  Gosh I naively thought if you didn't have it for the first then you wonuldn't have it for the second....thanks for the heads up lol

as the others said that is true...i had it from 24 weeks(had constant tests as i had a combination that cna cause prem labour.. and the second time didnt have strep b at all.. and some people have it one week and not the others.. as long as you get the AB's(in hand) it's all good and shouldnt affect anything else.. :)

Hi... I was just about to say what Hippy Mamma said

I tested positive and took some oral anti-bs which cleared it up, or at least I didn't test positive a couple of weeks later.

I'm planning a home birth (hypnobirthing) and even i do end up having to have IV anti-bs for whatever reason, I can still come home afterwards, provided I don't have a bad reaction or anything. Then if they need to be topped up, the MW can do it at home.

I'm also rh- and will probably need some anti-d after birth. Again, because i've already had this in the hospital (at about 30 weeks) and was fine, my MW is quite happy to administer this at home.

I tested positive for Group B strep about 2-3 years ago and when I got the results they told me it was nothing to worry about unless I got pregnant.
Well...now I am, and I told my midwife about the history of Group B strep. Current tests have shown that it's not there now, but due to the risks of respiratory problems in the baby, they'll treat me with the ABs anyway...just in case.
As others have said, it is transient so better to be safe than sorry I suppose.

I too want to have a water birth and was worried that this might affect my desire to do so, but my midwife doesn't think it will...the only thing will be the IV which can't go underwater, but it'll be put in my hand...

I generally don't like ABs and they make me feel a bit sick...hope it's different when they're administered IV...although I imagine that'll be the least of my worries!

Emmecat wrote: Oh can you have Strep b for one pg and not the others?  Gosh I naively thought if you didn't have it for the first then you wonuldn't have it for the second....thanks for the heads up lol

Generally speaking you are more 'at risk' if you have tested positive before. We actually refused this test for a variety of reasons, and in the UK they don't even routinely screen for it. Because of its transient nature IMO we should be watching ALL babies for signs not just ones where we think we know mums status.

Something else to bear in mind, they like for you to have the IV antibiotics for at least 2 hours prior to your birth...........of course since DS2 was born in under 2 hours would have been moot anyway. LOL ABs are also not a guarantee that bubs won't get sick even if you are positive. I have two friends who both tested positive, everyone had them (including the babies) and both babies were really sick and one of them nearly died.    So for us, knowing all that, we probably would have taken a 'wait and see' approach even if I had tested positive.