GBS positive and antibiotics during l&d..

Why would you decline the antibiotics ?

@Amelia for many reasons, especially with them being unnecessary and causing other problems

Get a urine test to see if there is an active infection. The swab just says if you have the virus in your system. I chose the antibiotics the first time around... Second time around I was supposedly GBS free. You can leave the hospital without approved discharge but in Canada they want u to sign a waiver 'against medical advice".

I had a home birth, and my midwife didn't have time to start an IV. No issues.

You may have tested positive during the 36 week swab and not be positive at the time of labour or vice versa. You can choose antibiotics or none regardless of status (if you tested negative you could still request it or if you tested positive you could choose to not get them). They (or you) would watch for signs of overall infection and treat it when/if they see it

My midwife said that if you’re planning a water birth the water can help wash away any bacteria the baby’s come in contact with. But again at the point of birth if you or baby show signs of infection they often won’t know what truly caused it as you could be GBS positive at the time of testing and not have it the next week

@Sarah Maybe I should have clarified more, haha. I've had 2 so far. I have no infections, just present colonies. The 1st one was high, and the 2nd was way lower. The only concern is for the baby getting it while passing through the birth canal. But I have read other critical downsides to actually getting the antibiotics. I was never positive with my other 2 previous births, so this is all new to me. 😞

@Emiline That is actually a good thought. But the birth center I'm going to this time doesn't allow water births! 🙃 I can labor in the tub but can't give birth there. This is my 3rd baby, and the previous two were water births with negative GBS. It's all new territory for me this time around.

@Alicia Yes! That was my main concern. That's why I wanted to hear from Mamas that have gone through it.

I was GBS positive. Did not get antibiotics during birth. Baby was healthy with no complications. 😊 The only thing I’ve heard is that if your water has been broken for a while and baby is still in there, the risk for spreading is higher. Ultimately your choice! I feel like everyone’s so quick to just get the antibiotics, but don’t realize there are also risks associated with them as well. So just do your research on GBS and be confident in what you choose :)

I had my water break 2 days before contractions started so I took antibiotics but didn't follow the protocol of every 12 hrs or whatever it was. My contractions kept slowing every morning and in daylight and picking back up in the evening. So I went in the afternoon the first two days for antibiotics and the evening on the third when I got them I also ended up having an emergency C-section. So the antibiotics were all pointless. I heard u can just wait until you are in active labor to get them. Just need them like 30 mins before delivery for them to work.

I'm a crunchy mom and a nurse. I never tested positive for GBS. My thoughts are, prenatal care is so overblown it can feel like there's a rift between the glorious God-given beauty of birth and the sterile textbook, fear mongering, rote feeling clinical perspective. That said, there is value to both sides and a middle ground, which is a little different for each provider and parent. The risks of antibiotics are mostly cumulative in the absence of an allergy ( bacterial resistance eyc.) The risk of infection to the baby is that one time exposure and them having to process the antibiotics as a newborn. I say just weigh the pros and cons and have trust and distrust in a logical balance. I would treat a colony because if your immune system gets low, that colony could become active. And further that's not ecoli or another bacteria commonly found down there in any amounts... unless there was some tonguealingus going on, hehehe.

I had a home birth and tested positive for GBS, the birth team didn't arrive in time and I was never given the antibiotics, both me and baby are healthy and I had a smooth delivery.