Midwife appointment and step B 27th October 2010

Midwife appointment with Tracey today.(my local midwife) Appointment was at 1.45pm nearly didn’t make it . We went in and had a lot to tell her. We haven’t seen her in ages. I had to tell her that baby will have to be moved, also I got a call from the midwifes at st Thomas regarding my swab test. I had something called group b step. It was a bacterial thing that has formed by its self inside my vagina , its deadly to baby’s and they can catch it when they pass through the mothers. I would have to be given antibiotics at least 4 hours before I give birth and then on consecutively. To make sure baby doesn’t get it. This really got me down as if I didn’t need anything else to make my baby ill. I just kept thinking to myself someone somewhere doesn’t want my lil man to be well. Then Tracy explained a bit about it . Then she took my blood pressure and urine sample and then she went to right in my notes . She realised that I had too sets one for my local hospital and one for st Thomas. She wanted to take the local one to file away. I didn’t want this as I want a copy of it all. As this has not been an easy or normal pregnancy. I asked to keep it she said no. luckily I told her st Thomas still look at it as it has my scan results in it, so she let me keep it and said she will take it next time.


Just what i wanted to find out that i have strep B! By this point i was thinking my poor baby doesn't stand a chance , I was so sad and so fed up . I just want it to be over now! 

What is GBS infection?

Group B streptococcus is a bacteria also known as Streptococcus agalactiae. It’s best known as the most common cause of severe infections in the newborn. But recent studies have shown that it may also cause serious infections in certain adults.

Group B streptococcal infections affect one in 2,000 babies born every year in the UK and Ireland. About 340 babies a year will develop group B streptococcal infection within seven days of birth (early group B streptococcus disease).

Causes of GBS infection

The bacteria is found living harmlessly in the vaginal and gastrointestinal tracts of up to 50 per cent of healthy women (and in many men too). It may be passed on to a baby either while the baby is still in the womb or during delivery. Although about 50 per cent of babies born to mothers carrying group B streptococcus pick up the micro-organism, only about one to two per cent of these newborns then go on to develop severe group B streptococcal disease.

Group B streptococcal sepsis is most likely to develop when the baby is premature or if there has been prolonged rupture of the membranes, with many hours passing before the baby is born, or if the baby has no antibodies to group B streptococci.

In the last 30 years it’s been show to be a cause of serious infection in non-pregnant adults too. It’s extremely rare in healthy people and is almost always associated with underlying problems such as diabetes or cancer, or less often, problems with: