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The drs make you take antibiotics to prevent infection. Has anyone refused this?
What kind of infection are they concerned about?
Does this antbiotic also treat group b strep?
this happened to me last time and i hate how clueless and powerless i was. any advice for my next labour would be appreciated!
I had the same thing with DS1 had to be given antibiotics 6 hourly i think it was until he was born but it didn't overly bother me, i wasn't hooked up to anything constantly. DS2 was totally different with me labouring for a couple of hours followed by my waters breaking then DS2 being born within about 5 minutes. Not 100% on the others but am quiet interested in what others will come in and say.
Well this happened to me with ds 3,
My waters broke and i was no way near being in labour..
I ended up getting induced the next day if i didnt get going.
But i was never given anitbiotics..
If your waters have been broken for more than 24-48 hrs there is a risk of infection to the baby...this can led to bub being born sick and requiring SCN.
Your vaginal wall contains a lot of bacteria which is harmless to you and bub while they are protected by the bag of waters but once the waters break the bacteria can enter the womb and cause an infection. Something like Chorioamnionitis, pneumonia etc.
I it is your right to refuse it but I would think it is in bubs best interest to have them.
I didn't have them with my 5th bub after PROM but labour started with in a few hours...with my 6th bub my waters broke at 26 weeks and I was on AB's until she was born 10 days later.
I am pretty sure (please someone correct me if I am wrong) if you test pos for strep B you are automatically given AB's at the onset of labour.
As RainbowBrite says, it is only if your waters have been broken for 24 - 48 hours that antibiotics are likely to be suggested. If you say no, then the alternative is to track your body temperature to look for signs of infection and deal with them if they occur. Most OB's also highly recommend antibiotics if you have tested positive for group B strep, but again if you choose to refuse then you can monitor your baby post birth for signs of infection and deal with them if the occur. The risk, of course, is that once a newborn gets an infection they can go downhill very fast. However most babies born to mothers who are + for GBS (and to mothers whose waters break early) do fine with no infection.
mine started leaking on the saturday morning and I went in on Sunday afternoon I was over 40 weeks and already sick so was automaticly offered/given ABs I didnt mind as it made me feel better anyway
I was on IV AB's after PROM at 24+4 till DS was born at 25+1.
I had tested +ve to GBS but was not informed until we almost lost DS to late onset GBS at 3 weeks of age and then again 10 days later.
Tests on the placenta also confirmed Chorioamnionitis.
It really makes me wonder if the AB's that I was give at the time were the correct ones or maybe just, they saved DS from more life threatening complications?
I had them, and it was the beginning of the intervention that almost cost me my VBAC.
Having said that though, I do believe I made the right decision at the time, given my time over I am not sure I would make the same one, but my membranes ruptured about 18 hours before they gave me the ABs. If I had it over I would wait until after 24 hours.
(I was at 41 weeks exactly)
I was given ab's after my waters broke at 36 weeks as i had not been tested for strep B. My ob said she will always give a course after SROM where labour does not start.
I was meant to get antibiotics but i didnt.
If I hadn't given birth by 18 hours after my waters broke they wanted to give antibiotics ( I beat the clock by 2 mins :) ) I was told I could refuse them but they would want to take blood from the baby to test for infection. I was under the impression they gave 24 before giving antibiotics, if I had known it was 18 I would have lied about the time my waters broke!
Oh I'm so happy to see so many replies.
With DD they pressured me into abs at 18hrs, and also was being pressured to induce, luckily I convinced DD to start coming on her own, coz it's so hard to refuse the dr's requests!
I think the ABs made me really drowsy, I have always been sensitive to medications, I'm gonna say no next time. And certainly won't be going to the hospital until my labour actually starts. Thanks for your advice girls!
With DS1 my waters had been broken for 36 hours before he was born. I refused antibiotics and instead agreed to taking my temp every hour at home and if it rose i'd go in and get the anti b's. It never did rise though. They also gave me 2 days for labour to start before inducing.
They gave me anti b but I have no idea what for will have to check with Sara. My waters had only been broken for 2 hrs when I got there but I was 36+4
Michel Odent covered that topic when I did a course with him. He said that the evidence of doing nothing up to 72 hrs after SROM, where the mum is asymptomatic, has been shown to have the same outcomes as giving IV abs. After that time there hasn't been any studies. You have to think about what the consequences for you and your baby are for both having IV abs and for not. In the UK and other countries they don't test women for group B strep.. I think it is an individual decision for each woman. But for me I wouldn't unless their were symptoms of infection. I would want the baby to be colonised by the bacteria of my body when it is born to imporve it's health for the rest of it's life
ohhhh thanks so much for starting this thread, I was going to post the same question!!
With DS being my first bubba, I had no idea what to expect and I thought my waters had broken.. but in hindsight I think it may have only been a leak as it was not a lot. When the midwife checked me over (about 9 hrs after what I had thought to be them breaking) she said she couldnt tell (?)... but told me I would have to come back to the hospital within 12 hrs to have abs just in case. (I tested neg to b strep, and was right on my due date)
Long story short.. I went home and was doing great, finished packing and felt fine.. until the hospital called asking where I was and why I had not come in yet. I said I felt fine but they insisted I come in for abs. I did and I honestly believe thats why the birth of DS ended in a Csect.. It threw me, I wasnt expecting to go to hospital when I did as my contractions had only really just started and were very light. Intervention then proceeded from there.... :(
I want to prepare myself for next time, as I really didnt know much about it first time around.
With DS1 I was started on IV AB's as soon as I arrived at the hospital as I was only 28 weeks, so approx 2 hours after PPROM. The IV was put back in when I was admitted to the labour ward about 18 hours before he was born (30+1).
DS1 was born very sick as the infection (chorioamnioitis) had passed on over to him, his APGARS were 2:4:5:7 (1min:5min:10min:15min)
I don't recall being tested for GBS, if I did I don't know the results LOL. I didn't require any AB's for DS2's birth (ARM).
mummato1 that is so similar to me! I had thought my waters broke as it was a constant dripping, but I actually remember in the middle of labour an actual gush of fluid, which would have been the waters! *doh*
Good thing you and I can be prepared this time!
I still cant help but wonder what if... I know I cant change it now, but I will always wonder if I trusted my instinct and stayed home if DS's birth would have been a lot different to how it turned out.
BUT heres to next time, being more prepared, more informed and more in control of our own bodies!!!!
Wish I'd known then what I know now, but with #1 my waters broke 24 hours before I had her (no sign of labour) *and* my doc hadn't bothered to test me for GBS, so IV antibiotics it was.
Cue really long bout of rather nasty thrush. Stupid bloody hospital.