IMHO there is no point in having a swab done in pregnancy. Group B strep is a transient infection which may be there at the test, but gone in pregnancy, or vice versa. This may result in a medicated birth unnecessarily, or a baby with GBS not being monitored for infection because the test was negative.

I believe parents would be better off not having testing, and having a discussion with their midwife or GP about spotting infection in the newborn instead. There is more than just GBS that can cause serious infection / sepsis in a newborn and testing for one then being relaxed just leads to mums (like me) thinking everything is ok and ignoring warning signs, and nearly losing their child as a result.