Homebirth General Discussion #13

[Cricket]

According to my midwife, the push for GBS testing and treatment was actually initiated by a group of mothers who lost babies or had seriously ill babies after GBS infection. They wanted to do something to prevent that from ever happening unnecessarily. And, apparently the rate of GBS infection in infants has been cut in half with the current policies and practice. However, that doesn't mean it's the best method for going about dealing with GBS IMO.
Different practitioners have different policies on GBS swabbing and treatment. Some will swab every woman, and treat all those who are positive with antibiotics in labour. Some will not swab anyone, but give antibiotics to any woman who is in a "high risk" situation for transferring GBS to her baby - that is, if she's had a previous GBS bladder infection, has laboured for a long time with ruptured waters, or is pre-term. There might be one or two other risk factors as well, but I think that's most of them. I have a couple links my midwife sent me that I can go over and get back to you on. I think, personally, that looking at your own risk factors and making a decision from that is a better course.
I have opted not to test this time and last time. I have never had any of the risk factors, and generally deliver within about 30 min of water breaking. Water birth also reduces the risk of transmission, and I plan to have this baby in the bath. If you end up labouring longer than anticipated with broken water, you can have a chlorhexidine solution ready to use as an internal rinse (warm it first!) when you're labouring. Finally, the risk of GBS transmission in any case is very small, and the number of babies who have serious complications is also very small. Those complications can of course, be very serious, so like everything, it's about the risk/benefit ratio, and the level of risk you feel comfortable with. Antibiotics come with their own complications too, of course. I'm allergic to penicillin, so have to have stuff that takes longer to work, and must be in my system for 4 hr before delivering. (I don't labour that long anymore!) All my babies have had thrush, and I'm not interested in giving them something that will make that worse either! And, in our area, midwives can't give IV antibiotics at home, so that right away eliminates the homebirth for us.
Talk to your midwife about the risk factors for GBS transmission, and where you stand with that, and alternative methods of reducing your risks, and go from there!