GBS swab - what's the policy where you live?

[Cricket]

Just wondering what the policy for group B strep swabs is where you are. I've heard that in some places, they only swab high-risk women, in some places they treat high-risk women, without swabbing, in some places, they offer to swab and let you choose what you want, and in some places, they swab everyone, whether they like it or not.
And, if you have a positive result, what are your options?
The reason I'm asking is just to get a better understanding of how this is handled in other places. From what I gather, about 30% of the population will have a positive result at any given time, and here, that means you'll be given IV antibiotics in labour. That seems like an awful lot of women being "forced" to have IV antibiotics, to combat a relatively small risk. Is this the way it happens by you?

[Arimeh]

I've never had it done or mentioned that I needed it at my hospital. Maybe its a hospital by hospital policy?

[Olive]

i was offered it this time and was advised by my middy not to have it, i also had no intention of having it, she knew i wanted and intervention free birth! i did the test first time with DD1 and it was neg.

[Jellyfish]

I've never had it done or mentioned that I needed it at my hospital. Maybe its a hospital by hospital policy?

Piggy back... this has been my experience as well.

[HotI]

Could also be differences between health care providers, those that see value in the test are more likely to offer it to more of the women they see.

[Cricket]

Hmmm.... I was sorely tempted to just pass on it this time, and now I really wish I had, because it was positive, which means no homebirth, unless I can get a negative result this week. (please! Trying probiotics and garlic, thanks to Alan's suggestions.) My midwives gave me a free choice, but when I've had a regular doctor in the past, they just go ahead and do it - no options really. (I've always had a negative result before.)
Well, next pregnancy, most likely, I'll just pass on this test. My babies are very unlikely to be high-risk anyways - never had a pre-term birth, or a long labour with waters broken.
Kind of wish I could go back on it now.... I could, really, but I know my midwives would be putting their reputations at risk by supporting me in that, and they are having a hard enough time gaining credibility in the community. If by some very small chance my baby did become ill, I would feel terrible, they would feel terrible, and it would look very bad on them.

[Cricket]

Oh, and I think this is the policy for the whole province of Ontario, BTW, although I haven't investigated too carefully.

[Snowy Love]

I wasn't swabbed with DS (same hospital as Arimeh) but my waters broke before labour and when I was in labour they put a canula in to give me AB's.

[~Raven~]

I've never had it done or mentioned that I needed it at my hospital. Maybe its a hospital by hospital policy?

Neither was I for any of my bubbas!

[sas85]

Policy here is that all women recommended to have it done - only been that for about two years I think they said. I had it done - had heavy growth - had one injection through canular during labour as waters broke prior to contractions - only needed one as short labour. IMO it's worth a routine look and some antibiotics JIC - my brothers were both really sick when born, my oldest 11lb bro was really sick with pneumonia and that was prob as a result of strep B infection getting to them apparently, but wasn't screened for back then - so I took it without hesitation.

[Cricket]

Just thought I'd add the link to another thread that I started discussing GBS, with some excellent information from Alan and Julie Doula.

http://forums.bellybelly.com.au/foru...tive-help.html

[dust]

i dont think high risk women are at a higher risk of having strep b in all fairness (my understanding is that 30% is in regards to all women) my understanding is that its a injection every 4hrs of labor?? maybe im wrong.
At my hospital they do it at 36w. I still dont know the result of it. DD2 was the same, had the test and was neg. DD1 6yrs ago my hospital (different state) didn't test at all.
Im not fussed bout having the strep test done considering i get to do it myself which means the result could be hit/miss depending on if ive done it right. Id rather have it done then having to get my back up to growl at the midwifes during labor iykwim?!!

[sas85]

That's interesting Dust - I just got sent for my swab with my blood tests at the pathologists and they did it there, I just assumed that's how everyone's was done - I didn't know you could do it yourself, or that they might do it in labour - it is horrible when you're in labour having anything done that involves being still!!

[Cricket]

You would not be higher risk for having GBS by going into early labour, or having long labour with waters broken - your baby would be at higher risk for actually contracting it. Preterm babies and those who have been exposed to the bacteria for a long time in labour are those who are more likely to get sick from it.

Here's the info that I have on it, as best I can summarize it: GBS is a normal bacteria found in the gut of about 30% of the population at any given time. It comes and goes. Generally, it causes no issue for mother or baby, but, in approximately 1 in 4000 births with a GBS positive mother, the baby becomes very ill with GBS (roughly 1 in 12000 births, then?). Meningitis is a possibility, and for those who do become sick, there is a substantial risk of death.

So we're talking about pretty small numbers of those who would actually be affected, but relatively high risk, if you know what I mean.

In the US, the push for universal GBS testing of all pregnant women came from the women. Mothers who had lost babies lobbied for this to become standard practice, so that it wouldn't happen unnecessarily to anyone else.

The current practice here is to administer IV antibiotics to the GBS positive mother in labour. This ensures that the baby has antibiotics in his system when he is born, and can fight the infection if he contracts it on the way out. The mother must complete the round of antibiotics 4 hours before birth, to ensure that it has fully circulated in hers' and the baby's systems. Oral antibiotics are not effective for this, but I've read of an IM injection being used in some areas, that is effective for 30 days.

To swab a mother in labour, as far as I know, would be relatively useless, because I think it takes about 48 hours to grow a culture from a vag swab, and so they wouldn't have any results until well after the birth.

My midwives also allowed me to do the test myself, with careful instructions. I appreciated that!

[Cricket]

You would not be higher risk for having GBS by going into early labour, or having long labour with waters broken - your baby would be at higher risk for actually contracting it. Preterm babies and those who have been exposed to the bacteria for a long time in labour are those who are more likely to get sick from it.

Here's the info that I have on it, as best I can summarize it: GBS is a normal bacteria found in the gut of about 30% of the population at any given time. It comes and goes. Generally, it causes no issue for mother or baby, but, in approximately 1 in 4000 births with a GBS positive mother, the baby becomes very ill with GBS (roughly 1 in 12000 births, then?). Meningitis is a possibility, and for those who do become sick, there is a substantial risk of death.

So we're talking about pretty small numbers of those who would actually be affected, but relatively high risk, if you know what I mean.

In the US, the push for universal GBS testing of all pregnant women came from the women. Mothers who had lost babies lobbied for this to become standard practice, so that it wouldn't happen unnecessarily to anyone else.

The current practice here is to administer IV antibiotics to the GBS positive mother in labour. This ensures that the baby has antibiotics in his system when he is born, and can fight the infection if he contracts it on the way out. The mother must complete the round of antibiotics 4 hours before birth, to ensure that it has fully circulated in hers' and the baby's systems. Oral antibiotics are not effective for this, but I've read of an IM injection being used in some areas, that is effective for 30 days.

To swab a mother in labour, as far as I know, would be relatively useless, because I think it takes about 48 hours to grow a culture from a vag swab, and so they wouldn't have any results until well after the birth.

My midwives also allowed me to do the test myself, with careful instructions. I appreciated that!