Our bodies are covered in bacteria, most helpful and not harmful. But during pregnancy, labor & delivery, a common streptococcus bacteria in mothers can be transmitted to their babies and cause significant illness.
So it’s quite important to know about group B strep during pregnancy and what it means for your baby.
Group B Strep During Pregnancy
Of all the billions of bacteria in this world, one very common form called group B strep is found in your vagina and rectum. About 25% of mommies have it during their pregnancies.
Because your immune system is far more robust than your baby’s, you often don’t have any sort of symptoms or side effects. So it’s impossible to know if you even have it.
But when you give birth and you baby travels down your birth canal while you’re pushing or breathing them out, they get coated in all the natural bacteria you have. (See baby’s microbiome.) Thus, the chances of them getting the group B strep bacteria is clear.
If your baby happens to be infected well with group B strep, they can develop much worse illnesses because their immune system has not fully developed yet and they are no longer fully connected to yours.
How To Know If You Have It
When your around 36 weeks along, right before becoming full term, your doctor can test you for the bacteria’s presence. The testing is most accurate at this time and most crucial to know before you start your labor.
They will do a simple swab in your vagina and around the rectum, no worse than a regular pap smear. Then they’ll grow your sample in a culture to test for group B strep. Results often take a few days up to a week depending on how the culture grow.
If you’ve had it before, you’re most likely going to have it again, and vice versa. But natural levels in your body can flare up and propagate more so at continuous times, causing a positive result even if you have been diagnosed with it in the past.
What Are My Baby’s Risks?
If you test positive, there is always a risk to your baby, no matter what you do. According to the Centers For Disease Control And Prevention, your baby has a 1 in 200 chance of becoming infected with your group B strep.
However, the standard treatment of antibiotics through the mother during labor reduce those odds to 1 in 4,000 chances that their baby will receive the bacteria. This way, most chances of your baby catching the group B strep are reduced 20 times.
So maybe you don’t want to have an IV during labor because it can be rather annoying while you’re trying to relax or sway to calming music. I certainly wouldn’t. But the reason it has to be during labor is because group B strep bacteria grow very quickly. If you have the antibiotic before your labor, the bacteria could have already grown back to sufficient levels enough to cause your baby’s infection.
Even though your baby’s chances of getting the group B strep without your antibiotics may seem small, the illnesses they can gain from their infection are not minor. Babies that become infected have a 15% chance of not surviving.
Baby’s Symptoms Of Infection
Usually within 24 hours, you baby will show signs of infection that develop rather quickly.
- Their breathing will change, going much faster and lead to respiratory distress.
- If the problem is respiratory, they will come down with pneumonia and require treatment.
- They may have a fever spike quickly.
- Infection in the blood will lead to sepsis and their circulatory system will heavily weaken.
- This can cause them to change color to gray or blue.
- Regular irritability, inconsolable crying, going limp, not wanting to eat are all possible symptoms.
- Their heart rate can increase dramatically if their circulation is compromised.
- Worse cases lead to meningitis and infection of the spinal cord and fluid around the baby’s brain.
If your baby shows any sign of these forms of infection, the worst part is waiting another two days for their test results to come back so your doctor knows that they do indeed have a group B strep infection.
Summary
There’s no way to prevent yourself from getting group B strep, unless you lived around the clock on penicillin. But the odds of greatly reducing your baby’s risk of catching it from you are in your favor.
It’s a hard decision though because your baby still has a very small chance of not getting it from you at all, even without the antibiotics. And I know that you want your baby’s natural microbiome to be optimum for their lifetime benefit.
But think of it this way:
- WITHOUT your antibiotics, your baby has a 0.075% chance of dying from their infection.
- WITH your antibiotics, your baby has a 99.975% chance of not getting any sort of infection at all.
If you DO have the antibiotics, YES your baby’s microbiome may be a little less than superb. But they are still likely to have some sort of illness or condition later in life due to environmental and genetic factors which we cannot control.
Control Your Natural Birth With This Kit
It’s up to you how you want to weigh the balance of risk and benefit. But remember that your baby is 20 times more likely to come home with you guaranteed if you choose to have the antibiotics during labor for a short time.
If you found out you had group B strep, what choice would you make?
Remember, you can do hard things.
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envlizard says
Sarah - This is a great post that explained a lot for me. My doctors failed to do the test before my son was born and after I had him they realized their mistake. At the time I did not understand the urgency or the importance but they kept up both in the hospital for an extra 48 hours while they ran the test. I was lucky enough that everything was negative and fine. They never expressed to me what a big deal it was. Reading your post makes me realize just how lucky we were! And now I know why they kept us longer, they would have had a big problem if something went wrong. Thank you for all the information! I know with my next pregnancy that it is my responsibility to make sure that they are more diligent.
Isn’t that interesting how our doctors do or don’t do so many things surrounding our childbirth and they hardly share it all with us? Always asking questions, being open, and making requests about everything that going to be done during your stay is very important. Have you heard of the APGAR score? It can tell you a lot about your newborn and your doctor won’t even mention it either.
Thanks for your comment!
Lynne Huysamen says
Hi Sarah
Thanks for this great information on Strep B. I have never heard of it and have had 2 babies. There is so much to watch out for. I am assuming if a mother has a c-section and natural labour that there is no risk of your baby getting Strep B?
Kind Regards
Lynne
I don’t believe the risks are the same when you have a c-section because of the baby’s route. But I wouldn’t be surprised of your doctor still wants you on the antibiotic during the delivery, just because the bacteria can be found on your skin. But it’s still even less a risk from that perspective. Thanks for your question, Lynne!
marcy says
Hey Sarah,
I learned a lot from your post. When I was pregnant with my one and only boy, I didn’t realized that there was some kind of infection like that from pregnancy. And the baby will suffer most if taken for granted. Thank God I did not have that kind of bacteria during my pregnancy. My son was healthy and until today.
If ever I had a group B strep during pregnancy, I will choose to take antibiotic because I want my baby away from infection.
Thank you for this informative post.
marcy
I’m waiting to hear back about my strep B test this week for my third pregnancy-getting sort of anxious. I would likely take the antibiotic too, but it’s really hard when I know that it may hinder his microbiome if I do so, which is a main reason why I want to birth naturally in the first place. But we all must weigh the risks.
Glad that your boy is doing great, Marcy. Thanks for your comments!
kitty clark says
This is such an informative article. I wish they had this kind of information back when I had kids. The most I read were like Dick and Jane books from the 50;s, Generic elementary reading books. Basic stuff. This is very nice to educate women on what to expect while expecting a baby. Very nicely put together and easy to read. I shared it with my expecting friend to read and enjoy. I imagine we will be talking about this site for a few months. Wonderful informative site and easy to understand. I had my children all natural and I believe that is the best way for baby and mother. I got up an showered right away and recovered faster, and baby was given the opportunity to come into this world with no drugs. I applaud you for providing this information.
Thank you, Kitty. Please share your stories on the Stories Page so other mothers can know that they’re not alone in their endeavors. It IS the best, isn’t it? 🙂
This sounds scary! I had no idea about the risks. I did not have antibiotics with any of my 3 children, I can’t even remember now if I was tested, I must have been.
Are there any natural alternatives for woman who want to avoid getting IV antibiotics? What about having a home birth? If you tested positive, would you have to have your baby in a hospital?
One thing I do always is take a great probiotic too. That’s really the only help that can be done because you cannot control what bacteria you already have with you. Testing for the Group B Strep starting around 25 years ago, depending on where you lived at the time. So it’s possible that you weren’t tested if you had your children before then.
A mother can definitely deny having the antibiotics and wouldn’t be required to labor in a hospital if she did. But many birthing centers can provide that sort of support if needed as well. It just depends on your midwife and options that you choose to take.
Thanks for your questions, Andrea.
Kanaroo says
Great information Sarah! One question though. It seems like there’s a lot of controversy in online forums, media and people in general as to the overuse of antibiotics. Is there any side effects (both to mother and baby) to using these antibiotics in treating group B strep? What is the name of it and is it covered by most health insurances?
Just a basic penicillin or broad spectrum antibiotic is normally used and should be covered by your insurance. But yes, I see your point about the controversies. I personally avoid antibiotics at all cost unless the risk is too great for me to accept, depending upon the situation. Simple side effects are diarrhea and lack of appetite, depending on how you react to them. Fortunately I haven’t had to make this decision because I’ve always been negative for Group B Strep with both my first and second deliveries. My third is coming up here in a few weeks and I’ll know then. But I always am a little anxious every time for sure. Thanks for your comment!
Megan says
Really enjoyed this post, Sarah! I’m not a mother, yet, but this is something that I always think about. Not necessarily Group B Strep, but just all of the things that can go wrong — unexpectedly. I have friends who are moms who did everything “right,” and some kind of issue they weren’t expecting creeped in. Having this information is awesome before I get to this point, but I’ll try to stay updated by your website so I’m prepared when I’ll put it all to use! Thanks so much 🙂
I’m glad to have been helpful. You said it correctly how some mothers can do everything ‘right’ and still end up in circumstances that are unfavorable. But it’s worth the effort. Thanks for your comment, Megan!
Chris says
Hi, I ended up on your article by accident doing some research for my pregnant partner.
Seeing I’m here I was wondering if I could pick your brains. My partner is worried about the possible bacteria found in fresh fish. What are your views on this? Do you feel this could be dangerous to the mother to be?
Yes, there are a number of foods that can cause harm during pregnancy because a mother’s immune system is suppressed. Bacteria in meats is more of a worry when it comes to deli meats because they harbor listeria, which can cause miscarriage. But all other meats and fish should be fully cooked beyond the recommended temperatures (165 degrees to be safe across the board) to ensure the harmful bacteria is killed during food preparation.
With fish, the issue is more about levels of mercury in the certain types of fish. See this post to learn more. And raw sushi, raw anything, is a BIG NO. Let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks, Chris!