Insert Probiotics into vagina to help with Strep B test

happy78

Has anyone tried it? ?

?

With my first pregnancy I tested positive for Strep B and I hated the IV with the antibiotics. ?I didn't want to be tied to anything so that I could move more freely and try for an unmedicated birth. ?

?

For this one a friend told me that her midwife advised her to punch a hole into a probiotic capsule and insert it in her vagina each night. ?It worked for her. ?I talked about it with my midwife and she wasn't sure it would work, but said there wasn't any reason I couldn't try. ?Has anyone tried this with any luck? ?

charmgal

I've heard of women orally taking Probiotics throughout pregnancy to avoid GBS, but I'm not sure that inserting them into your hoo-haw is going to do anything. 

Kerianne1176

Listen, I can understand your wanting to avoid IV antibiotics but this seems extreme to me.  I am GBSpositive and my midwife is going to give me oral antibiotics when she suspects I am close to going into labor (a few days) and keep me on throughout.  I will not be tied to an IV. I suggest you look into that option before begining to insert ANYTHING into your vagina....especially preemptively to PREVENT a condition you dont even know you will have.

emmavenus77

Midwives are not qualified to give such clinical advice. 

Kerianne1176

emmavenus77:

Midwives are not qualified to give such clinical advice. 

c

cant say I agree with that either

emmavenus77

Kerianne1176:

emmavenus77:

Midwives are not qualified to give such clinical advice. 

c

cant say I agree with that either

Do you disagree that they have no license to practice medicine or dispense clinical or pharmaceutical advice?  Are they not certified but nevertheless lay healthcare professionals?

happy78

Maybe I should clarify, she is a CNM, or Certified Nurse Midwife and she can write prescriptions etc... so I think she is medically qualified. ?She will be delivering me in a hospital and works as part of full OB/GYN - Midwife practice. ?I think you need to do more research on midwifery before posting such things. ?

Here is a cut and paste from my clinic's website-

Today's midwives have evolved to become much more than their predecessors, but their goal has remained the same: quality healthcare for women. Nurse midwives are educated in the disciplines of nursing and midwifery, are graduates of a professional program accredited by the?American College of Nurse-Midwives?(ACNM) and must pass a national certification exam. In Oregon, midwives are educated at the Masters level, recognized as independent healthcare practitioners, have hospital admitting privileges, are licensed to prescribe medication and consult with many types of physicians.?

emmavenus77

I agree, Nurse Midwives are a different category.  Thanks for clarifying and good luck with your decision.

Not that it matters one way or another, but I stand by my earlier remark about lay midwives. 

 

AmandaJane1

I've heard of taking probiotics orally, but not vaginally. I have been told to use fresh garlic inserted vaginally at night for a week. I don't know if I'm GBS positive or not, but garlic is supposed to make your body an inhospitable environment for GBS and yeast infections. However, I'm not telling you to do this- obviously check with your midwife/OB/healthcare professional first. 

CaitlinJ22

AmandaJane1:

I've heard of taking probiotics orally, but not vaginally. I have been told to use fresh garlic inserted vaginally at night for a week. I don't know if I'm GBS positive or not, but garlic is supposed to make your body an inhospitable environment for GBS and yeast infections. However, I'm not telling you to do this- obviously check with your midwife/OB/healthcare professional first. 

ive done this out of desperation when I had a YI that would not go away for weeks. It did nothing and was not fun to me near me....

I would look into oral probiotics. Some people get GBS the first time and not the second. i wouldnt stress unless you know you have it.  

susan1017

Is not being tied to an IV more important then possibly passing the infection to your baby? They will put the bag on a pole and give you can walk around or ask if oral antibiotics can do the trick.

Putting probiotics in your vag sounds extreme and like VERY sketchy advise.

3003girl

If I am strep B positive I will have a choice to:

get a saline/hep-lock so that they can do IV antibiotics without being connected to an IV all the time.

or 

get 2 shots in my bum every 6 hours during labor. (Actually, it could be very 4 hours, I forget because I would probably do the hep/lock) 

I would ask about alternatives to being connected to an IV the whole time. 

And if the probiotics just masks the test result being positive instead of "cures" it, I would not even consider that. 

snansley

I am not sure that the absorption rates would be the same.  I had heard that you could do this with BC if you were too sick to your stomach to hold down the pill, but my doctor said it wouldn't work because it wouldn't absorb correctly...

bensbride225

NO.  No no no.  Please don't do this.  It sucks if you're GBS positive but it's an infection that can make a baby seriously ill (in fact, babies have died from contracting GBS), so really, the antibiotics during labor are a necessary evil.  And really not that big of a deal anyway.  You can still move freely with an IV and they can heplock it between antibiotic doses.  Don't stick anything up your vagina.  Seriously.  (I'm a L&D nurse FWIW.)

EmmaRain

This sounds like trying to "trick the test" to me. If you are positive for Strep B, you need to have the antibiotics to protect your baby. Taking probiotics to cause a temporary false negative doesn't change the fact that you are a carrier for Strep B. Your baby's health is more important than your desire for a completely unmedicated delivery. Plus, an IV on a pole should not hinder your ability to move during delivery.

serarose

The nurse midwife who taught our Bradley class is normally very anti-meds (and moreso pooh poohs the whole "don't eat unpasteurized dairy" thing), but discouraged us from the probiotic route because she claims it can introduce a whole host of other germs up there and, what others have said, that it doesn't actually reduce the gbs in your system.  I didn't know that injections were an option and plan to look into this myself, but in the meantime was able to get some comfort from the fact that the IV packs for the antibiotics are small and only take 20 min. to deliver.  Not ideal, but not confining you for hours.  Also, if you do go that route and you are planning to use multiple positions for delivery, be sure to ask for your IV to be placed in the vein on the side of your arm (vs. wrist or back of your hand) so you'll still be able to use your hands for support.  GL!

MWoodside

I am GBS+ & I'll just have a heplock w/ IV antibiotics for 2 15-minute periods throughout my labor.  To me that's not such a big deal & it's worth it to prevent infection being passed to my LO.  I can still move around during the 15 minute periods, and I'll be disconnected in btw them.  Is that what I ideally wanted, no, but I'm fine w/ it.

georgia_peachy

solidio:

If I am strep B positive I will have a choice to:

get a saline/hep-lock so that they can do IV antibiotics without being connected to an IV all the time.

or 

get 2 shots in my bum every 6 hours during labor. (Actually, it could be very 4 hours, I forget because I would probably do the hep/lock) 

I would ask about alternatives to being connected to an IV the whole time. 

And if the probiotics just masks the test result being positive instead of "cures" it, I would not even consider that. 

This for me as well.  Our hospital requires IV or hep lock for everyone so if it's already there I'll probably go with that.