GBS +

AACaHa13 · July 2013

So I had an appointment with my midwife yesterday and found out I am GBS positive. I am not thrilled and pretty scared about it. It sucks to have an antibiotic during labor, but I will do whatever it takes to keep the chance of infection down from infecting LO. Can any of you ease my mind and share your experiences with this and your ability to have a natural birth and healthy baby? I'm having a hard time with this!

abell77 · July 2013

Well, I am probably not the best example. I was GBS+ with my second pregnancy. My labor went really fast, so I arrived at the hospital ready to push. There was no time for antibiotics. Luckily my water broke right before I started pushing and I did not push long, so the time of exposure was brief. They kept us in the hospital for a 48 hour stay to monitor for signs of infection. Baby was fine, we went home.

Aurora_Borealis · July 2013

I, too, was GBS+ during my pregnancy. And I am allergic to penicillin. The alternate drug that my strain of GBS would respond to required 2 doses 8 hours apart. My labor was barely 10 hours long and I arrived to the hospital only 90 minutes before DD was born. Needless to say, I did not get antibiotics. DD was fine. I had a natural birth.

While I did not get abx, I did have an IV due to dehydration, so I can speak to the concept of laboring naturally with one. It really wasn't a big deal. I barely noticed it. A hep-lock would have been even less noticeable.

In any case, GBS is pretty common, and should not have any impact on your ability to have a natural birth.

erb82 · July 2013

I was GBS+ with births 2 and 3. Both times I only had enough time for one dose of antibiotics. It was tough sitting still while they started the iv, but it really only took 10ish minutes to administer. The first time they did it in triage while they were doing all the initial checks so I would have been sitting for those 10 minutes anyway. The second time, due to a paperwork mix up they waited a little while before starting the antibiotics. It was actually very mobile. I ended up sitting in a rocking chair, but I really could have gotten in any position. Once the iv was done I was disconnected and able to labor in a tub. It really didn't disturb any of my plans. Good luck to you!

AACaHa13 · July 2013

Thanks ladies for all of your responses! I like reading positive stories.... It helps me a lot

hamiltks10 · July 2013

Do some research. While it is a bit scary to think that we could pass on bacteria to our LO's during birth, the chance if it actually happening is very, very low.

There are symptoms that can indicate that you are higher risk of delivering a baby with GBS...rupture of membranes before 37 weeks, fever during labor, having a UTI as a result of the GBS during your pregnancy and a previous baby with GBS.

I was GBS+ with my DS and after doing a ton of research, I decided that even if my water were to break as a first sign of labor, I was going to labor at home for as long as possible. My water DID break as a first sign of labor. I stayed home until I "knew" it was time to go to the hospital (about 8 hours after my water broke). I got there with enough time for 1 dose of antibiotics before my DS was born. We had no complications from being GBS+.

This decision is not for everyone. I was comfortable with the very small risk in return for being at home for the majority of my labor. I just felt that the risk of my baby getting GBS during my delivery was much smaller than the risk of us having unnecessary interventions if I were to head to the hospital immediately after my water broke.

MrsBigTime · July 2013

I was GBS positive and had a wonderful NB. I only received one of the doses of antibiotics though because my labor was short. The only downside was needing to stay in the hospital for 48 hours to monitor DD for infection.

smittie417 · July 2013

I too, tested positive for GBS. My water broke and I went to the hospital after about 2 hours. I was contracting, but not regularly. My hospital did a saline lock for the antibiotics so that I could move freely during labor (I could even get into the shower and birth tub and submerge the IV arm - this surprised me). I did not have any problems receiving the antibiotics, it really just wasn't a big deal.

Mrs.AmyDylan · July 2013

I delivered J GBS+. My midwife had me try a bunch of natural remedies and I was going to retest when my water started leaking at 38w on my retest day. Since I didn't retest, I have no idea if it worked (vit c, grapefruit seed extract, garlic vaginally, and a probiotic). The antibiotic they used at the birthing center was an every 8hr dose, so I was able to go home between doses until I started active labor (I didn't start contracting until 18h after I started leaking). I had J in the water as planned. Other than holding still for what ended up being the last dose while they put in the needle for the last dose, it was no big deal. I remember being totally freaked out when I got the DX. Good luck!

AACaHa13 · July 2013

Thanks for sharing everyone!

Sawyerplus1 · August 2013

I was GBS + with #3. The IV was inconvenient, yes, but it didn't in any way impede my ability to have a peaceful, natural, water birth

CourtJack · August 2013

Sorry, just jumping in with another question. I'm GBS + also and my MW hasn't mentioned staying for monitoring. Did most people have to stay longer at the hospital for this reason? Thanks

J&Jaggies06 · August 2013

CourtJack said:

Sorry, just jumping in with another question. I'm GBS + also and my MW hasn't mentioned staying for monitoring. Did most people have to stay longer at the hospital for this reason? Thanks

Depends on hospital. Your stay probably won't be longer but they may want to monitor the baby a little longer for infection. My hospital said if I had time for the 1st round of antibiotics (4hrs) then they will likely release us both after 24 hours. If labor is so fast I dont have the 4 hour window then they will probably want to keep baby for 48 hours so then they would keep me too.

Sawyerplus1 · August 2013

CourtJack said:

Sorry, just jumping in with another question. I'm GBS + also and my MW hasn't mentioned staying for monitoring. Did most people have to stay longer at the hospital for this reason? Thanks

My midwives didn't keep us longer than normal (and at the birth center that was only 4 hours), but they told me what signs to look for, just in case. But because we got both doses of antibiotics and my water broke minutes before delivery they said the risk of infection was super duper low.

CourtJack · August 2013

Perfect - thanks for the input. My MW aims to have her patients out of the hospital as soon as safely possible. She says approx 4 hours after all is said and done. So I imagine she'll give me the signs too look for as well (so long as everything goes smoothly).

Thanks again!

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