How are antibiotics adminstered if you GBS+ and go natural?

tiffyspiffy1012 · June 2011

Hi Ladies! I won't know if I am GBS+ for 5 or 6 more weeks, but I was wondering how the antibiotics would be adminstered if I am? I am planning on being very mobile during my labor, meaning I intend to walk around, use the birthing ball, get in the tub, etc...and I certainly don't want to lug around an IV! Is it just a shot they give you? Is it really an IV they hook you up to? Do the moms have a choice how the antibiotics are administered? Thanks in advance!

cottonlily84 · June 2011

From what I've read it is an IV and it takes a while to drip a bag in you. But I've seen where it was put in, the bad emptied and then the pole/bag taken away leaving you more mobile with just the port (I read you get the drip every 4 hours).

Can you refuse these antibiotics anyway? I read you could but then baby would have to get antibiotics; that's worse to me. I don't understand it all yet. I haven't researched enough about it get a feel for if GBS is a real threat or an overreaction in medical obstetrics.

preppymama · June 2011

they can just do a hep-lock (whatever they are called) where they just insert the needle, tape it off, and attach the antibiotic IV to it when you need the antibiotics.

ShannonMacHappy · June 2011

I am delivering at a free-standing birth center with midwives. If I am GBS+, they would do an IV push -- they insert a needle in your vein, like an IV, but then "push" the meds through with a syringe. The bags are usually the meds diluted with saline water. So this is just the meds.

bdutton0005 · June 2011

What PP said. Depending on your hospital though most will leave you hooked up to an IV once it has been started and continue to push saline between the four hour antibiotics. You will get a dose every 4 hours until the LO is born. Also some hospitals require an additional dose once LO is her, this additional l dose is usually just at the hospitals that also require a dose of Potocine after LO is born to make sure your uterus contracts.

The best thing to do is to talk to your Dr and fins out his/her policy (which will be the same as where you are delivering).

pepomntpat · June 2011

It's an IV. You do not have to be hooked up the whole time though, just while the antibiotics are going in. Then they remove the IV from the hep lock until the next round.

BabyMimi · June 2011

Hep lock in the forearm. IV antibiotics takes about 1/2 hour to complete, then they take you off so you just have the heplock. They will redo the antibiotics every 4 hours until you have the baby. At my hospital, you can refuse but then they will give the baby antibiotics or make him/her go to the NICU for 24 hours for observation.

A friend of mine had a baby born with GBS disease (her swab was negative.) It sucked. He was in the NICU for over a week. I had a UTI in week 12 that came back as GBS + and after what happened to my friend, there is no way I would refuse.

jaymiegerard · June 2011

Can you have a home birth if you are GBS+? How does it work at home?

AJplusKev · June 2011

I was GBS+ and I had an IV with a bag. I only got 1 dose though. It took at least an hour after I was admitted before they finally got the IV in me. DS was born about 2 hrs later. The pediatrician told me after DS's birth not to be worried; one bag is 95% successful at preventing GBS in the baby, 2 bags is 99% successful. DS ended up being fine.

LindseyJW · June 2011

jaymiegerard:
Can you have a home birth if you are GBS+? How does it work at home?

depends on the MW. some MWs are also CNs, and can give meds. others are not licensed nurses and encourage you to go to a hospital for a round of antibiotics, then you come home and have your baby. sometimes you can get an Rx for the IV and hire a home nurse to come administer it when you are in labor. still other MWs use homeopathic rememedies that can be highly effective as well as natural remedies. for GBS+, my MW recs moms start taking garlic pills.

overall, the best treatment is prevention. taking a probiotic that promotes healthy flora may help prevent GBS, as well as boosting your immune system with Vitamin C, or echinacea, etc.

for anyone interested, here is some great info on GBS+ at home.

AlexJ217 · June 2011

I was GBS+ and had a completely natural birth in a hospital. Once admitted they started my IV drip. I was able to move around as I wished - althought I didnt really want to move much. The nurses did not really check to see how far I was dialated or anything until I had the full dosage. I was already dialated 4cm at 36 weeks and they did not want to help progress the labor by checking. Once the full dose was completed they checked me and I actually progressed pretty quickly after and DD was born within hours. I never felt that the IV got in the way of laboring naturally.

MaddysMama07 · June 2011

I had an IV with a hep lock. I had to be hooked up to the IV for about 20 minutes to let the meds go through and then they unhooked it. 4 hours later I was hooked up again for another 20 minutes. That was it. I was still able to move around in between.

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