Strep B question

Hello,

My best friend is currently expecting her first baby and she has tested positive to having the Strep B thing they test for... .which means she will need to contact the hospital as soon as her waters break so they can administer antibiotics and she then has to have then throughout her labour. Does this mean she will not be able to have a active labour ? In other words she will be stuck on the bed the whole time she is in labour?

My next questions i am currently pregnant with my third baby and have never even been offered to have the Strep B test , i have no idea why it has never been offered and am wondering where during the pregnancy should this test be done ? If i dont get offered it would it be in my unborn babys and my best interest to ask to have it done?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

i had Strep B with my DS and i just had a drip put in my arm and was monitored on and off but i could still walk around and had fluids still going thru. only down side was i ahd to have a stand thing to drag around lol

i didnt ask to have it done the hospital just did it and ill be making sure i get tested again this time :)

hope it helps

Thanks Cate.... just spoken to another friend and she also tested positive to it she said the only reason she was tested was because of her blood type she is a A- . So im wondering if they only test those who have this particular blood type?

Hi westy, I declined the strep B test with my second pg after doing some research. I can't remember the exact data, but the risk of complications from Strep B to your baby, if you do have the bacteria, are about 1 in 4000. Strep b bacteria can occur naturally in healthy vaginas, and you can test postive for the bacteria and then negative again 48 hours later. A few hospitals no longer do the test as routine. If your waters break and 24 hours later you are still in labour, they administer ab's a matter of routine anyway, and that's the time when strep is most dangerous.

All that is from memory, but i think it's fairly accurate. Have a look around and do some research- i think there might be some articles on the main BB site? If you test positive, you do have a drip, which canlimit your movement in labour and lead to other intervention.

I also had Strep B but just had the needle inserted into the back of my hand and taped there, then they just injected the antibiotic into the end of the plastic bit of the needle. So I wasn't hooked up to anything and could move around freely!

It gets done around 36 weeks and as far as I know it is a pretty standard test here in Victoria. The Strep B can make bubs sick as they are being birthed so the antibiotic they administer is to stop any infection passed onto the baby.

Strep B is also just the bodies natural flora. It's nothing to be worried about as people have it all the time and it can come and go. They don't test earlier in the pregnancy as it maybe gone by the time you reach the end of your pregnancy. So to test for it right near the end of the pregnancy makes more sense! Hope that helps!!!

Thanks so much for all of your helpful advice ladies, i think i will wait and see what happens when i get to that stage of the pregnancy.