It was POSITIVE!!! HELP!

[Cricket]

I just got the results of my group B strep swab back, and it was positive. Current policy in my area dictates that in this case, I must deliver at the hospital and receive IV antibiotics in labour. I have been planning a home birth, up until this point, and I've never had an IV and I don't want one.

My midwife said I may choose to ignore the result if I want to, but she would not recommend it. And I don't want to put my baby at risk, even if it is just a slight risk.

So my next option is to re-swab, which my midwife is perfectly willing to do. She recommends trying a week of probiotics (acidophilus orally and vaginally) and then swabbing again, and whatever the result is that time, we'll have to stick with it.

What I need is any other suggestions that might help. Can anyone give me anything that can help clear GBS out of your system? I really want to have a good, healthy, home birth!

Please help me get another shot at this!

[*noni*e*]

hi there,
im also gbs positive, but cant have anti biotics coz i am allergic.. gbs grows in cycles so just because ur positive now dosnt mean u will be at labour or at ur next swab.. pro biotics is a good idea ive also heard that inserting a garlic clove into the vagina before bed 2 days in a row before ur due to be tested will make ur test negative but it dosnt garauntea you wont have the bacteria at birth so thats something you have to think about..

[diannescruffy]

I was also stepB positive but didn't have an IV was given an injection during labour. Maybe you could ask your midwife if this could also be an option for you. Hope it clears up and everything turns out well so you can have your homebirth.

Regards,
Dianne

[murraysmum]

i hope it all clears up for u and u can get the home birth you want

the probotic sounds like a good idea

[Alan]

Hi Girls
Here are a couple of suggestions that you may want to try instead of the antibiotics.

~ Strep B Douche (vaginal irrigation)
One part 3% Hydrogen Peroxide to four parts water (Hydrogen peroxide kills Strep B on contact, however, NEVER treat with undiluted Hydrogen Peroxide-too strong!))
Douche or irrigate once a day, for six days.
Also clean labia with same solution twice daily for all six days.
Optional additions to solution above:
3-4 drops of Tea Tree essential oil
30 drops of Barberry tincture




Oral Preparation for Group B Strep, begin at 36 weeks gestation:
One part Barberry tincture
One part Astragalus tincture
One part Oregon Grape Seed tincture
Two parts Usnea tincture

Mix and store in amber bottle away from light. Take one dropperful (about 90 drops) twice a day; once in the morning and once in the evening until labor begins. Combine with above douche treatment.

Garlic Protocol
Peel and score/nick one garlic clove and insert vaginally for five-seven nights in a row. The more scores or nicks the better, as it is the garlic 'juice' that does the work. However, some women experience irritation with greater exposure to garlic 'juice'. So start with fewer nicks or scoring and build up from there. Start this protocol five – seven nights before the test date for the GBS swab. The test will be negative and the vaginal vault will be clear of GBS for four – six weeks.

Now that all this has been laid out, a few other things factor into this issue... the assumption that you will have a long labor with ruptured membranes. The longer the exposure in the birth path, the greater the risk of all kinds of microbes taking hold. So, no one can predict if your will start labor with ruptured membranes, nor can anyone predict the length of your labor. You could have a long labor, but with the bag intact until moments before birth... very little risk of exposure with that scenario.
So, consider that a few nights of douching or garlic insertion is far better for everyone involved than IV antibiotics, the side-effects and the fear and worry about the health of the baby, having to have the baby kept at the hospital for 48 hours while the GBS test grows out— a baby that is most likely not going to be exposed in the first place—especially if it is at term and the mother has eaten well throughout her pregnancy.

~ Also see Gloria Lemay’s article, “With Woman—Strep B: A Holistic Approach”


Chlorhexidine Douche
A solution of 0.2% chlorhexidine must be used. The hospital stocks a 0.5% solution.
To make a 0.2% solution from 100ml of 0.5% add 150mls of sterile water to this solution and shake it up well.
The solution should be syringed into the vagina at a low pressure; this would be best done with a 50ml Toomey syringe or a 20ml standard syringe.
The dose is 120mls every six hours.

[Cricket]

Thanks so much ladies! I've picked up the pro-biotics, so we'll start there.

Alan - I'm so glad you took the time to answer as well! Thanks a lot! Would you recommend the peroxide solution or the garlic? Does the peroxide provide any long-term "protection" as the garlic seems to? Personally, I think I prefer the peroxide idea, just because I feel smelly enough already, without adding garlic! But if the garlic clove idea works better, or is safer, or whatever, I can certainly give that one a shot!

Based on my past history, I anticipate delivering right around my due date, with a relatively short labour. (three babies so far, one at 40+1, 7hrs labour, one at 39+1, 7 hours labour, and one at 40+1, 2 hours labour.)

[Alan]

Hi Cricket
There are some potential side effects from the treatments.
Peroxide needs to be inserted slowly and may feel very strange when it starts to fizz. It can also make some very embarrassing sounds as the air escapes. There is a small chance of irritation.

Garlic can sting so I suggest that you only make 1 small cut in the clove the first time you use this. Increase the number of cuts as you get used to the feeling.

Chlorhexadine is used widely in hospitals to kill germs. It has a slight chance of causing irritation when inserted into the vagina.

Personally I would suggest the garlic for its long term protection. I’m not sure if the other treatments offer this.
My second choice would be the Chlorhexadine as there is a very slight theoretical chance of an air embolism from peroxide due to its ability to release air when it comes into contact your skin.

[Cricket]

Thanks Alan - it's evening here in Canada, but I'll be picking up garlic first thing in the morning tomorrow. I'm so glad to have found some further help and suggestions here! I'll let you know next week how things went.

As far as the traditional treatment plan goes - IV antibiotics in hospital are the only option available here right now. In some areas, the IV can be administered at home, and in some areas, an IM injection is allowed before you go into labour, but here, this is the only choice right now. I'm really hoping to avoid it!

Anyways, thanks again for all your help everyone - BellyBelly is such a wonderful resource and support!

[Julie Doula]

Great stuff, Alan!

And here's some thoughts from the UK homebirth site:

Group B Strep and home birth

Home birth is still an option after a positive GBS result. You can have a home birth with, or without, intravenous antibiotics. If you are booking with independent midwives then they will probably be very familiar with the condition. If you are planning a home birth on through public system then you may have to be prepared to state your case clearly and firmly; remember that it is your decision. You may find that it helps to have relevant research and articles available to discuss with your midwives.

I gave birth to my fourth lovely boy, Lachlan, at home, in a birth pool, on 7 September 2004. GBS did not cause either of us any problems. It was my easiest labour and birth thus far, but I doubt that would have been the case if I had laboured in hospital on an intravenous drip.

My personal view is that it is worth knowing that you have GBS if you do go into premature labour, or your waters are broken for a long time while you are in labour, because it does mean that your baby is at higher risk of problems. That doesn't mean that you automatically 'have' to have intravenous antibiotics in labour if you start labouring at 36 weeks, or if your waters are broken for 18 hours while you are labouring, but it is something that you can take into account when deciding if you want to risk hospital birth and/or antibiotics.

For instance, if I were to go into labour at 35 weeks, I would go into hospital and would probably accept IV antibiotics. If my waters broke but there was no sign of labour within a day or so, I would want to pay close attention to my baby's condition, and to my own temperature, for signs of infection. But if I went into labour at term (ie after 37 weeks) and my waters were intact and/or things were moving along rapidly after they broke, and I didn't develop a temperature, and the midwife was happy with the sound of my baby's heart, then I would certainly not consider hospital birth or antibiotics.

Can you have IV antibiotics at home?
Most UK hospitals do not offer the option of having intravenous antibiotics at a home birth, because of concerns about the mother having a severe allergic reaction. However, there are certainly some midwife teams which are prepared to administer antibiotics at home - eg see Judith G's birth story. If you think that this is the right choice for you, it may be worth writing to the Supervisor of Midwives at your hospital to request that you be given intravenous antibiotics at home.

Another option is to go to hospital in early labour and have a dose of intravenous antibiotics there, and then return home to continue with your labour. It may take some arranging, but it can be done - see Kate Simpson's birth story, and also Lucy B. However, be aware that once in hospital, there may be great pressure on you to remain there, and you may not feel like moving. See 'Accidental Hospital Birth' for cases where this has happened. Therefore, if you are considering doing this, you may want to make a birthplan focussed on a hospital birth as well as one for a homebirth. You could also research the hospital's policies regarding babies born to GBS positive mothers, and consider whether you are happy with them - it may be difficult to assert yourself, or research the issues, once you are in hospital.

[Julie Doula]

Here is the Gloria Lemay article. (I can vouch she is an absolute darling - she stayed at my house here in Warburton earlier this year).

Also the Birth Love website where this article is found is just fantastic. It is a treasure trove of natural birth knowledge.

Strep B Holistic Approach
Strep B Holistic Approach
-by Gloria Lemay. For more alternative treatments on BirthLove, go here. For a colloidal silver website, go here.

The concern about Strep B involves two groups at high risk of infection:

l. premature infants under 37 weeks gestation

2. any infant in utero with membranes ruptured longer than l8 hours

Contractions are a possible indicator of infection but this is a concern in weeks 0-36. After 36 weeks, Braxton Hicks are normal and a good sign of a healthy, toned uterus getting ready to push a baby out. Strep B in the vagina is not necessarily illness-related. Just as we commonly have Strep A in our throats on a swab and have no sore throat symptoms, so from one day to the next can we all culture positive for Strep B without any symptoms or danger to our unborn babies. This is why many practitioners refuse to test for it and simply wait to test until such time as the above two "at risk infant scenarios" show up. One day you might test positive and the next be negative. To treat with antibiotics before labour would NOT be recommended. Your body could build up a resistance to the antibiotics and so could your babe's body. Then, if either of you got a more serious infection after the birth, the antibiotics might be ineffective. It can also lead to thrush, vaginal yeast, and severe colic in the months after birth.

I would advise you to do as many things as possible to minimize your risk of ANY infections and maximize your immune system. Some safe suggestions:

l. boost Vit. C in your diet e.g. eat 2 grapefruit per day. Other good sources of Vit C : red peppers, oranges, kiwi fruit.

2. Drink a cup of Echinacea tea or take 2 capsules of echinacea every day

3. Get extra sleep before midnight. Slow down your schedule.

4. Take 3 tsps of Colloidal Silver per day. Take it between meals. Hold the liquid in your mouth a few minutes before swallowing. Coll Silver can be purchased in most health food stores.It is silver suspended in water. It is antibiotic in nature and safe in pregnancy.

5. Plan ahead for extra warmth after the birth for both you and baby. Hot water bottles, heating pads, hot packs, big towels dried in a hot dryer during the pushing phase--will all help you and baby keep extra toasty after birth and reduce stress. Have a friend or family member assigned to be in charge of the "Mother/baby warmth team". The colostrum from your breasts is the best antibiotic treatment your baby could ever get.

5. Other good prevention tips: Keep vaginal exams to a minimum--0 is best. Do not permit artificial rupture of the membranes. Do not allow children of other families to visit the new baby for the first 3 weeks. Keep your older kids healthy so they are not sneezing and coughing on new baby.

I hope this is helpful to you. I often think that we must have had a lot of women who were Strep B positive in the 800 or so births that I have attended. We do not test unless we have long rupture of membranes and/or a preemie. Once the baby is born, we keep all women warm and baby skin-to-skin with the cord intact (velcroed to Mom) and, of course, all our mothers breastfeed. I have never had a baby sick with Strep B in twenty years.

To see how well colloidal silver worked for a mom having her 7th baby (and first full term pregnancy), see Etanna's Birth.

More from Nancy McKay, childbirth educator:
To add to Gloria's regimen:

Capsicum (cayenne pepper) is higher in vit. c than any other known substance, *and* chases bacteria and virus' from the body.
Garlic! lots of garlic! antibiotic, antifungal, antiviral- and lowers blood pressure and cholesterol to boot.
Take echinacea for only two weeks at a stretch, with a break of two weeks. This stimulates your body's own immune system w/out it becoming 'dependent' on the herb to keep it in high gear. Don't take echinacea (or St. John's Wort, or ginkgo) if trying to conceive; they interfere
with the penetrability of the egg (sperm can't get in)- also men shouldn't take under same circumstances as their sperm is made less viable.
Store colloidal silver in cool dark place, away from anything metallic/mechanical (fridges, microwaves/radios etc).

[Lulu]

and on the plus side, you won't have to worry about those pesky vampires

Seriously, awesome to see this info xoxoxoxo

[Cricket]

He he he - Lulu, that's what I said to DH too, when I told him what Alan had recommended. Told him I was trying to keep him away.

Thanks for more great information Julie! I wish there were more options available to me here, but I am very hopeful that the probiotics, and the garlic, and some extra vitamin C will help enough to get a negative swab next week!

[Cricket]

Ummm... I have a new question.

How does a VERY pregnant lady get the garlic back out?!

Went in just fine. And I did manage to get it out again this morning, but let's just say it wasn't pretty.

Any tips?

I was considering boiling up some string, and then threading the garlic clove on the string before inserting it, so that I could pull it out like a tampon.

[Snacks]

Far out, that's a good point! The string sounds like the tidiest idea, Cricket. GL with it.

[Alan]

I never thought about taking it out, but your idea sounds like it should work. another option would be for DH could help remove it.

[Cricket]

For those who might be wondering (I know you're on the edge of your seat... ) the string idea works really well, and I haven't had any trouble with stinging or burning. I also don't notice the smell too much either. Two more days until I re-test!

[Alan]

Perhaps now would be a good time to increase the number of cuts you make in the garlic if you have not already done so. You could also consider inserting 2 cloves

[dust]

i had read about the garlic thing to treat thrush as well as strep b on i think a us midwife forum somewhere. Anyways they had said it was best done overnight as you can taste the garlic thats been inserted all the way into your mouth... i was just wondering the truth in that?? and also that it increased vaginal discharge that was watery. hmm