Strep B Vag Swab

[Melody7]

Hi,

I've been given the option of having a Low Vaginal Swab for Group B Strep sometime in the next few weeks (35-37), however I wanted to know how many of you bothered to have it.

I'm having a home birth and wouldn't want to have to transfer to hospy just to have antibiotics "just in case (1-2%)" my bubs were to contract it during labour.

What have others done?

[MummaBear79]

Hi Melody,
I had a swab done at 36 weeks with my first bub and it came back negative. I had a long hard labour with him and ended up with a csection. Hours after he was born, he started to wheeze and was taken away, only to be diagnosed with Group B strep. It was touch and go for a few days but he made it and has grown into a happy and healthy little boy. Even though I didnt have Group B Step, (unless the test was faulty), we still have no idea how he contracted it. I still had to have antibiotics for my next bub and will have to do the same with this bub who is due in 4 weeks. All I can say is, better safe than sorry??. Its a very stressful thing to go through and bubs who do get it, although rare, tend to go down hill very very quickly. I would definitely recommend doing it. You do the test yourself and at least it is a little bit of peace of mind.

All the best for your homebirth xoxo

[PinkPalace]

Strep b can kill bubs if contracted during birth so i would do it to be on th safe side.
If your mw at home can cannulate she can give you the dose of ab's at home during labour to reduce the risk...

[Tracey]

I didnt have it with DD#1, but did with DD#2, it was negative & was discussed with MW's with last birth & it was deemed unnecessary as i was neg before!???

[Willow]

Mine was neg last time but my ob still wants me to do it this time in a few weeks, he asked me about the result last time so he knows it was neg.

I'd just do it for peace of mind I think, as others have said, better safe than sorry. It's not an intrusive test and you do it yourself so I don't see the harm.

[Trillian]

I had it done once at 37wks with my first three pg and this time I've had it done 3 times LOL. It showed up in my urine sample in the 9wk bloods/urine tests and I was diagnosed as a carrier. When I changed Dr's halfway through he ordered all the 9wk tests again so he had something to start with and it showed up neg, and last week I had the swab done again. For me it doesn't matter either way as I have to have ab's for my heart murmur, but GroupB strep is a bacteria that can live in the vaginal area at any time so the results you get one week may be different from results you'd get if you took the test another time.

it can have some serious repercussions for the baby and yes, sadly babies have died from it. But it is only an optional test and it is up to you to have it. In the case of a home birth I suppose if you did test +ve for it you could get a script for some abs to take at home.

[Willow]

I have to have ab's for my heart murmur

Sherie - can I ask why this is?

I have a murmur too which was diagnosed at the beginning of this prg. Does it depend on the kind? Mine is apparently an 'innocent' murmur. I've had an ecg done and it came back normal.

[Trillian]

I have a leaky metrial valve in my heart which is also classed as innocent. You need the ab's for dental work as well as there is like a 1:1000000 chance you can get a blood infection. I only had the heart murmur picked up in my third pg and had ab's then, but for all I know I could have had it for years and I've never had a problem.

[Willow]

OK, thanks Sherie, I might talk to my ob about this.

The anaethetist for my second surgery last year said he could hear one but I'd spent so much time in hospital that I figured he must be wrong cause it would have been picked up. During the routine q's at my first ob appt it came up again, I told him what the anaethetist had said and my ob confirmed I did have one after all. Apparently a lot are picked up during prg because of the increased blood flow, it makes it easier to hear them.

I'm pretty sure all my valves were normal on the ecg. Will bring it up with him anyway.

Thanks!

[Alan]

Hi Melody
Many places no longer bother with the strep B swab. As others have said you can be negative when they do the swab then posative the week after. All you need to do is keep an eye on the baby's temp for a couple of days after birth

[Melody7]

Hi,
thanks for your thoughts. I suppose I have several reasons behind questioning whether to get it done or not:
1) If I test neg and my waters break b4 labour, apparently (a hospy) will give me 48hrs to go into labour. If you haven't had the test or tested positive they (hospy) automatically give a max of 24hrs after waters breaking. My MW is different and would assess my situation at the time. I wouldn't necessarily have these rigid timeframes under her care.

2)If I do the swab and it's +ve my MW doesn't think that any Dr will give a prescription for me to have abs at home. I would have to birth in hospy if I wanted the abs. So then I'd be put in a situation of knowing that my baby might get it (1-2% chance) - and would I compromise my whole birthing option for that - at the moment I wouldn't.

My MW comes from NZ and it's not a routine test at all. She has only seen 1 case of a baby with Strep B and they got it as a result of mismanagement.

[Alan]

MelodyIf your baby does get Strep B, and it is not that easy for a baby to catch it from a vaginal birth, then it is very easy to treat. It is only when it is not treated that it becomes dangerous.

[Melody7]

Thanks Alan, I'm going to the GP to get a BT form tomorrow and I'll ask her if she'd write a script for me to have ABs at home if I had a +ve result. If she'll do that, I'll consider having the test.