I found out at my 28 week check up that a swab they did at 10 weeks showed I was positive for group B strep (nice of them to let me know - they told me all my tests came back normal!).

I am looking into my options as the hospital's policy is, as everywhere, to administer IV antibiotics four hourly once labour begins.

If I can avoid it I want to do this, as I don't want to be hooked up to an IV (I need to pee every ten minutes when I'm in labour and dragging the IV around is a pain in the butt, and I don't like how it restricts my free movement.) I also have two children who are allergic to various antibiotics and have other issues, I have one child who has had major gut problems through her life from overuse of antibiotics during her first of life, and I am concerned about my baby developing penicillin-resistant bacteria such as resitant e-coli.

The other issue is, my pro dromal labours last a long time - up to a week - and there's no way of judging "the start" of my labour, and I can see immense pressure on me for labour augmentation, and the resultant risks to me and the baby involved in that.

I also get thrush every time I have antibiotics, and I don't want thrush on a healing perineum!!!!

I'm considering a compromise position - that I will consent to IV antibiotics if my waters have been broken for twelve hours, or I go into labour before 37 weeks, or I develop a fever before or during labour. After looking up the incidence and risks of streptococcal sepsis for neonates, this is a significant set of clinical risks which contribute markedly to the 0.2% chance of the baby becoming infected by GBS.

In the meantime I'm embarking on a course of garlic, grapefruit seed extract and probiotics to improve my internal flora and hopefully reduce the colonisation so that it's negative at my 36 week screening anyway.

Does this seem reasonable? Has anyone else dealt with these issues outside the normal protocols? Does anyone have any research beyond the inadequate cochrane review and the health service propaganda to help me make a truly informed decision? Given how bureaucratic and process driven the hospital is, I am anticipating a fight if I insist on treatment outside the norm.