28 Weeks Pregnant Just Found Out I Have GROUP B STREP!

Oh my gosh, why in the world did your doctor test you so early??? He clearly does not understand how Group B strep works. I am a midwife. Here is the low down on Group B strep. This is a completely normal bacteria that lives in the the woman's vaginal tract. Some carry it, some do not. Both are normal. Also, the colonization can come and go. You may have it today and it may be gone next week. This is why he should have not tested you now. The test is typically done towards the end of pregnancy and even then it is not that reliable because it takes 2 weeks to get the results so if you are positive on test day, you might be negative on delivery day. This is also why I never tested myself during pregnany and very few women that I care for choose not to do the test. It is not a problem if your water stays intact during labor and if it does break you don't have any vaginal exams or very, very few during labor. The way it gets to the baby is if your water is broke and your care providers are constantly pushing the bacteria up to the baby with their fingers. If the bacteria gets in the baby it can then cause the baby to be sick. But it only gets to the baby if people are pushing it up to the baby. So, you have two choices. You can have antibiotics during labor. Or, take extra vitamin C during the last month of pregnancy to strengthen the amniotic sac and then don't let anyone break your water. Most of the time the water will stay intact until the end of labor or when the baby is crowning. And don't let your care providers perform the "hourly" vaginal exam, which is completely unneccessary by the way.
No, you can not pass it to your husband or son. This is a completely normal bacteria. Quit stressing.
And you might want to consider finding a new doctor because with all due respect he does not know what he is doing, nor does he explain anything.

7 moms found this helpful

Sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not. It's no big deal at all. I had it with my first and only child, and the only thing that was done diffently for me was that when I went into labor, I had an antibiotic IV to get rid of it during labor. Same for you. My baby is completely healthy, and I'm sure yours will be too. :)

I don't know if you can pass it on, but even if you do it WON'T hurt them. It doesn't even affect you... It's only dangerous for newborns, so thats why you need the antibiotic drip.

2 moms found this helpful

It is OK! Stop reading the craziness on line. Your doctor is well aware of it. It is more common than you think. I tested positive with it with my first and with my second it was negative. When you go into labor they hook up an IV with antibiotics - at least that is what they did 11 years ago! Everything will be OK!

Hugs!

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It is OK...like all the others have said.

I had it with my 1st & 2nd kids but not the 3rd. From what I gather it is very COMMON and comes and goes in ALL of us at some point!

They will give you 2 doses of antibiotic while in delivery.

Everything is fine!

Congrats on the new baby!!

1 mom found this helpful

I had it with my last two pregnancies. I was given antibiotics in labor. Everything was fine. Don't worry.

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Yes, they will give you an antiobiotic, it's not biggie. You can pass it to the baby, but I don't know about hubby, probably. But you won't pass it to the baby b/c they'll give you meds. Don't freak, don't read the internet. Just ask your doc questions and find out when you need to do what. It's going to be okay.

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I know it seems bad. I freaked out when I found out I was positive during my first pregnancy. But the realities are actually very simple. The bacteria that causes group B strep normally lives in the intestine, vagina, or rectal areas. Group B strep colonization is NOT a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Approximately 25% of all healthy women carry group B strep bacteria. For most women there are no symptoms of carrying the GBS bacteria. You just picked this up, maybe from something you ate, or you have always been a carrier, but the bacteria has moved from your gut to your vagina and is now detectable.

As far as your labor/delivery experience goes, there is only one change. Once you go into labor, it will be recommended that you have an IV put in so that they can administer antibiotics to you every two hours. This will keep you from transmitting the bacteria to your new baby. I think they test the baby some time after delivery, but I don't remember for sure.

So, it's going to be okay. I'm pregnant with my second and my 22 month old is fine and Strep free. :-)

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First, dont read all the internet stories. Yes, things can happen. Chances of it happening, pretty slim. Just make sure you have a plan with your dr to get antibiotics.
It is not like herpes. It is not something you contracted or can spread. It is a bacteria that you are a carrier of. I wasnt even tested with my first child. I was with my second, and had it. My first kid was a very fast delivery, so i was worried the second time around that I wouldnt have time for the antibiotic. It all worked out though, and she is a healthy happy little girl.
Please dont loose sleep over this (I know it is hard not to think of the what ifs.....) A LOT of moms carry this and have no problems.

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I don't think I know anyone who didn't have it:) Try to relax it really is not a big deal since they know and can treat it. FYI... I had it and my 3rd baby was born 12 minutes after getting into my hospital room. There was no time for any antibiotics. The doc was not concerned at all though because my daughter was not in the birth canal long enough to contract it.

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Oh hunny, don't stress. I have been in your shoes and worried myself to the point of being sick, looking up horror stories on the internet. Some women simply carry group b strep, it is not like you caught some disease from someone. I, like you, did not have it during my first pregnancy but did with my 2nd and 3rd. This is because it can come and go at any time. With my 2nd, my labor was SO fast that I didn't even get one whole dose of antibiotics before she came out and she was 100% fine. If you are super super stressed about it, ask your dr. to induce your labor so that you can be sure that you can get all of your antibiotics, doing so will reduce the chance of you passing it to your newborn to almost nothing. Just try to relax about it, you are ok I promise.

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No big deal. I had two bags of antibiotics during labor. She did have a slight infection when she was a day old, but that was because my water broke at 2:00 a.m. Friday morning and she was not born until after 10;00 p.m. She was/is fine.

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It's not a big deal as long as you inform the hospital and they give you the antibiotics during labor. I had it with my second and not my first as well. It's just "one of those things" that some people have sometime in their lives and others don't. The complications arise if you have the baby and aren't on that antibiotic drip during labor an delivery -that's when your baby can get sick and develop complications.

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I had Group B Strep and all the doctor said was don't wait until the last min because they would have to give me medicine in my IV to prevent my baby from being ill. This is a common thing now a days. They say you can have it with one but not the other. I was really worried too until I was in the delivery room. We even had to stay an extra day so they could monitor the baby for longer, but that really didn't matter because they had so many babies born while I was there that I didn't see a nurse unless I needed something. Some days I only saw them 3 times and that was for med's. If there is anything that I can help with to help ease your mind let me know. I'll try to answer anything that you want to know.

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don't stress it's no big deal. More than half of pregnant woman have it. It's not like an STD where you got it from someone or something like that. Your hubby will be fine and when you go into labor they will just give you antibiotics so your baby will be fine. I had it with my first pregnancy but not with my second. No big deal, you and baby will be just fine.

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This is commonly found in many women's vaginal flora - regardless of pregnancy status or not. Stop freaking out about it. Eventho passing it to your baby during birth is a possibility - NOT A CERTAINTY - it's extremely rare to pass it to family members and chances are your husband has it off and on in his urethra too.

At worst, they will give you antibiotics when you are close to birth. There are many herbal/mineral treatments Midwives have used and do use. I believe zinc and garlic is a major component. Also - the GBS status of your vagina will come and go - it's not a permanent flora in the vagina.

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I am surprised they swabbed you so early! Most docs don't swab for that until 36-38 weeks. It can come and go and come again before then. Some people just "carry" it and you can have it with one and not another. I don't think it is anything you did. But you DO need to get the IV antibiotics during delivery to help out your baby....I know someone who delivered and they didn't know she had it and baby had complications. The antibiotics are necessary! Best wishes and don't freak out.

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a good majority of women have it. it is not dangerous to you, and they will give you antibiodics the day you deliever to prtect your baby. I didnt find out till the day I delievered

Group B strep is a normal flora of the intestines. Everyone has it. The issue is if you are currently shedding it or not, because this happens in an intermittant manner. The issue during childbirth is if you are actively shedding it, it can get places it shouldn't, like in your child's eyes and mouth and such. Hopefully your provider will check you at the normal time and you could be negative then.

It's actually a pretty benign thing for adults. You may be tested again before your baby is born and it may have gone away on it's own. Otherwise, you'll probably have antibiotics while in labor. It does sound scary initially, but it's really a very minor naturally occuring thing.

Do you actually have it or are you a carrier of it? I am a carrier and know that if you dont get antibiotics during childbirth you can pass it onto your baby when they come out vaginally. I have 2 kids and tested positive for both pregnancies. Currently pregnant and im not going to let them test me. It will be positive. I'll just get the antibiotics durring delivery. I didnt get them all with my second baby, because she came so fast and she was fine. Good luck!

I tested positive with my 2nd pregnancy and not my 1st so i was surprised. When your in labor, you will just have to have 2 bags of antibiotics run thru you to protect the baby. Your husband and DS cannot get it from you, but your unborn child can. My labor went so fast that I could not get all the antibiotics in and my daughter got extremely sick after she was born so the doctors assumed she had contracted group b strep from me. Her lab work even came back positive for it, which scared the daylights out of me because it can cause menigitis and they wanted to do a spinal tap on my newborn. Turns out it was a skin contaminant and the reason she was so sick was cause she was born with a colon disease, not group B strep. So if you get your antibiotics, your baby will be just fine, the chances of your baby contracting it is very slim. Good luck.

I tested positive for Group B strep with my first pregnancy and I also freaked out. I thought I "caught it" somehow. I never did learn how a woman gets it, but I did learn it's actually very common (and it's not an STD, if that's what you're thinking because I wasn't sure when I learned I had it). All they do is put an antibiotic in your IV during delivery to eliminate any risk for your baby. And, no, you can't pass it to anyone in your family except the baby (which the antibiotic takes care of that risk completely).

Okay, calm down, you know it early and that is good. Your doctor can give you antibiotics and you will be clear for delivery. It is in delivery when it can be passed to your baby. That is good, so you have good control and diagnosis.

I did not know that I had Strep B and I passed it to my son. He caught it during delivery. It was a scary time for me because I did not know what was going on. My son was lucky and he turned out to have no ill effects except for a serious case of pneumonia for the first few days of his life and was in the NICU. That in it itself was scary enough to see him in an incubator.

The reason you caught Strep B is because it is in the environment around us. Usually we don't catch it because our resistance is up. Anyway that is what my doctor told me. When I was pregnant the second time I worried all the time, but my daughter was fine.

Trust your doctor. They know about this. And be glad that they got it early. Rest, take your medicine, and make yourself healthy.

nope. the reason the check it while pregnant is because the way it passes on is through the birth canal and they want to make sure you are at the hospital in time to get meds so your new baby doesnt get it. i had it with my first 2 and dont have it with my 3rd. from what i understand, its something that comes and goes and isnt anything you did or didnt do.

I would not worry about it. I had it with one of my pregnancies and they just give u an anitbiotic shot when u go into labor, so that it does not get passed to the babe. U can't pass it to your hubby.