Group B Streptococcus and Pregnancy

1. What is GBS?
GBS is one of the many common bacteria that live in the human body without causing harm in healthy people. GBS develops in the intestine from time to time, so sometimes it is present and sometimes it is not. GBS can be found in the intestine, rectum, and vagina in about 2 out of every 10 pregnant women neat the time of birth. GBS is NOT a sexually transmitted disease, and it does not cause discharge, itching or other symptoms.

2. How does GBS cause infection?
At the time of birth babies are exposed to the GBS bacteria if it is present in the vagina, which can result in pneumonia or a blood infection. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) gives the following data: full term babies that are born to mothers who carry GBS in the vagina at the time of birth have a 1 in 1000 to 2000 chance of getting sick from GBS in the first few days after being born. There is a 1 in 4000 chance of delivering a baby with GBS if antibiotics are given. Occasionally, moms can get a postpartum infection in the uterus also.

3. How do we know if I have GBS?
A few weeks before your due date, during a regular prenatal, a sample will be collected by touching the outer part of your vagina and just inside the anus with a sterile Q-Tip. If GBS grows in the culture that is sent to the lab from that sample, your provider will make a note in your chart and you will be informed at your next visit so that you have the information when you start labor.

4. How can infection from GBS be prevented?
If your GBS culture is positive within 5 weeks before you give birth, the midwives recommend that you receive antibiotics during labor. GBS is very sensitive to antibiotics and is easily removed from the vagina. A few intravenous doses, given up to four hours before birth, almost always prevents our baby from picking up the bacteria during the birth. It is important to remember that GBS is typically not harmful to you or your baby before you are in labor.

5. Do you have to wait for labor to take the antibiotics?
Although GBS is easily removed from the vagina, it is not easy to remove from the intestine where it lives normally and without harm to you. While GBS is not dangerous to you or your baby before birth, if you take antibiotics before you are in labor, GBS will return to the vagina from the intestine as soon as you stop taking the medication. Therefore, it is best to take penicillin during labor, when it can best help you and your baby. The one exception is that occasionally, GBS can cause a urinary tract infection, it should be treated at the time it is diagnosed and then you should receive antibiotics again when you are in labor.

6. How will we know if the baby is infected?
Babies who get sick from infection with GBS almost always do so in the first 24 hours after birth, 90% of newborn GBS infections occur in the first 12 hours. Symptoms include difficult breathing (including grunting or having poor color), problems maintaining temperature (too cold or too hot), or extreme sleepiness that interferes with nursing.