Group B Strep Positive with Questions

Racie

I'm nearly 38 weeks pregnant and found out at my appointment today that I tested positive for Group B Strep.  

I'm pretty bummed out about the possibility of having to go to the hospital early if my water breaks, since I planned on laboring at home for as long as possible.  My hospital seems very natural birth friendly, but I'm still unhappy about with the thought of spending many hours there.

Luckily, my midwife says I don't need to be on an IV the whole time I'm in labor, just every 4 hours for a dose of antibiotics (they can unhook me once I finish a dose, until the next time).  

I could really use some encouragement.  Any mama's out there with good natural birth stories even if they had to go to the hospital early?  

oliversmommy32912

I had a client this weekend who had a beautiful unmedicated water birth and she went to the hospital early. Her water broke and even though I encouraged her to stay home and try to get things moving on her own I think she was a little scared and decided to go to the hospital right away. About four hours after checking in her contractions started to pick up and she had the baby four and a half hours later. She got every single thing she wanted out of her birth.

I spoke with her about the experience today and she really feels that everything went perfectly. In contrast, I had a baby at the same hospital and arrived in transition and it. was. awful. The car ride was almost unbearable and the mandatory 30 minute EFM strip they do upon check in felt like torture. I was very happy with my experience because I pretty much arrived and had a baby but I can definitely see many advantages to arriving early as well. It can certainly be much less chaotic.

My point is just because you have to arrive earlier than you would like does not mean you can not have a beautiful birth. It's a major bummer and may not be exactly what you expected but now you can adjust your expectations and focus on the things you CAN do. Good luck with everything!

wifeofadam

I doulaed for a friend over the summer who was GBS+.  She tried to decline the antibiotics, but her doc bullied her (IMO) into it.  Despite being a little annoyed by the IV pole and having to drag it around, she had a wonderful natural birth experience.  There was a little stinging in her hand from the antibiotics at one point, but she told the nurse about it and she was able to help. 

pdilly2b

I was in your situation and scared I was going to have to go to the hospital earlier than I planned.  It ended up not being that way.  DS's birth was awesome and I felt like a rock star after (and was actually telling DH later that day that I couldn't want to have another baby to be able to do it again).

I labored at home for about 20 hours (contractions 5-20 min apart and about 30 seconds long) and my water never broke. I went to the hospital when the contractions were 3-5 min and 1 min long and was only 4 cm. After another 8 hours laboring at the hospital, my midwife broke my water. I got antibiotics thorough my heplock every 4 hours starting pretty soon after I arrived, which ended up being 3 times. I think it took like 20 min each time. But during that, I could sit up in bed, or on the ball or stand.  Contractions were manageable as long as I wasn't laying down.  One of the good things about being hooked up was seeing the contraction intensity number rise and then fall. It started to fall before I could feel the contraction easing, so I knew the easing was coming, which I really liked (not that I would want to be hooked up all of the time, but it was one advantage). The only thing GBS+ affected me on really was that I had to get out of the tub for the antibiotics, but I needed to anyway, because being out made me progress faster even though the tub felt really nice.

Anyway, that's my long-winded way of making the point that you don't know how labor is going to go. It's entirely possible that you water will not break at the start of labor and so you will be going to the hospital for reasons other than to get antibiotics. And even if you do have to go because of ruptured membranes, the hospital can be a good place to labor and the logistics of getting antibiotics aren't really that constraining. 

Good luck!

jo4janet

I was GBS+ for both pregnancies and I got the antibiotics, no problem, except that the IV stung a little. A lot of women say it is not necessary, but I would feel horrible if any kind of infection actually passed through and it could have been prevented. Also, my water never broke. Your water won't necessarily break. I think I might have read somewhere that there is large percentage of women whose water never breaks. My labors were both pain med free, but I was induced while at the hospital with DD1 and I had back labor.

melody921

I had GBS but my water didn't break until I was already at the hospital. So you may not have to spend extra time there. I had a ridiculously short labor. DD was born three hours after contractions started. No time for drugs or really much of anything. They didn't even get the full dose of antibiotics in me.

Racie

Thanks everyone!  Hearing everyone's stories has been encouraging.  I know I'm going to be in an environment and with a doctor that is very natural birth friendly and I won't be bullied into what I don't want.  Still, it's nice to hear that a complication didn't derail others' natural births.  

Now that I've had a chance to think about it more, I think part of my mood yesterday was just from having to deal with a complication.  This pregnancy has been so ideal that I think I subconsciously expected everything to go as I had it planned out in my head (even though I would never have said I believed that to be the case).  It's good for me to have some time now to process the fact that I am not in control of everything!

hamiltks10

Do the research and then make a decision that is best for you and your baby.  

I was Group B Strep positive.  After all of the research I'd done, I decided to labor at home regardless.  My water broke as a first sign of labor, my contractions started soon after, I went to the hospital in transition about 8 hours later, got one round of antibiotics and had my son very soon after.

For some people, any risk at all of infection isn't worth it.  But for me, the complications and interventions that could happen if I had gone straight into the hospital after my water broke was a higher risk than the very slim chance that my baby would get an infection.  I knew that he would be watched closely in the days after birth and treated immediately if an infection was detected.

My son was born completely healthy.  I thought my midwife might scold me for not calling when my water broke and waiting to come in...but she didn't.  Her lack of concern only validated my decision, IMO.

 

BriDaily

Here is my advice: Get tested again at 39 weeks. From now until then, eat a LOT of garlic. Also, make garlic tampons and insert them at night (take a cotton gauze pad, wrap around a garlic clove, tie with dental floss). Weird I know. But I did this before my GBS screening with my first and it came back clear. GBS is a common bacterial infection and garlic has a lot of anti-bacterial properties.

It only takes a couple days to get GBS results back, so you should have enough time to prepare yourself mentally if it comes back positive again. Hoping it doesn't!

tallkrissy

I was strep B positive and went to the hospital early.  I was worried about getting antibiotics in.  For me, it was more about making sure LO was healthy and safe.  What mattered most in the end is he was born without complications from strep B.  I didnt have en epi, but did have sleeping pills and pain med when I arrived at 11pm.  Doc recommended it since I was progressing slowly and wanted me to sleep.  She said I would need my stregnth, which was true.  LO was born the next morning almost 12 hours later. 

The hospital let me be out of bed and on my ball.  The IV was a pain, but whatever, the most important thing was my son being safe.

Honestly, in the moment, with all the pain I was in, I really didnt care about much how labor was going as compared to my "plan."  Everyone is different and in the end, all I really wanted was a healthy baby and no c section....which I got!!

reederah

My birth was awesome. I was 7 cm dilated before I really knew I was in labor (went in for my 39 week appt with mild contractions and was sent to the hospital). I was there from 3pm and had my son at 10:30pm. I only was connected to the IV for the 15 minute doses. They let me labor in the tub and do whatever I wanted, so I would say the group b strep didn't change my plans at all.