Group B Strep Test

A. What it is

GBS or group b streptococcus, is a common bacteria that is often found in the vagina, rectum or bladder, many women have GBS without ever having any symptoms, though the bacteria may not cause any problems for the mother, if it infects the little one it can cause rare but serious complications, approximately 15-40% of all women are GBS positive and about 40-70% of those will pass the bacteria to their little ones during the birth process, but only 1 in 2000 little ones will ever develop an infection, so it is recommended that all women are screened for the bacteria during their pregnancies.

B. How it is done

women are typically screened between 35 and 37 weeks gestation, the test is easy and painless and conducted by swabbing the vagina and rectum with a cotton tipped swab, you can have the option to do this yourself, the swab is then cultured to see if GBS is present, even if you have a planned c- section you will still need to be screened in case your waters happen to break or you go into labor before your planned section.

C. What do the results mean

if you happen to test positive for GBS or have any of the following conditions:

• Starting labor or rupture of membranes before 37 weeks gestation

• Your membranes rupture during labor at full term, and the labor it is likely to last more than 18 hours

• You have an unexplained, mild fever during labor

• You have previously had a baby with a GBS infection

• You have had GBS detected in your urine or have had a bladder infection caused by GBS

there is really nothing to worry about, you will just be treated with IV antibiotics when you go into labor or your water breaks early, it is rare but your little one will be monitored closely for symptoms of an infection, it could show up in the first 7 days of life or after that, the early onset type of infection can be very serious and this is why GBS positive women are treated during labor, if your little one shows signs of GBS infection then they will also be treated with antibiotics.

D. What to expect during labor

doctors will give antibiotics to those women who are at an increased risk of having a little one that may develop GBS disease, the antibiotic will help protect the little one from infection but only if given during labor, your dr can not give you antibiotic before labor begins because the bacteria can grow back quickly.

you will get the antibiotic via IV into your vein, most commonly a dr will prescribe beta lactams which will include penicillin and ampicillin, though dr can give other antibiotics to women who are severely allergic to these antibiotics, antibiotics are very safe, only about 1 in 10 women have any mild side effects from receiving penicillin, there is a rare chance of only about 1 in 10,000 women of having a severe allergic reaction that would require emergency treatment.