In late pregnancy, your health care provider will likely perform a test for group B strep. The test is a simple swab that is generally done in the last month of pregnancy. The swab is testing for the presence of group B strep in the vagina.
If you get a positive test result, you are not alone. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that between fifteen and forty percent of all women carry group B strep. It is generally without symptoms or problems, except during birth.
It is possible for pregnant women to test negative in one pregnancy, positive in the next and negative again. The reason is that group B strep lives in the intestinal tract of many people. It may respond to antibiotic treatment leaving the woman with a negative result only to return again in the future since it is naturally occurring.
Women are generally given antibiotics during labor to prevent transmission of group B strep to the baby. The CDC reports that giving antibiotics is very effective for reducing transmission to the baby. If the mother is given antibiotics, there is a 1 in 4,000 chance that her baby will be born infected. Without treatment, the number of infected babies climbs to 1 in 200.
Treatment is crucial because infection with group B strep can cause serious problems in the newborn, including pneumonia, sepsis, meningitis and even still birth. In some cases, the baby may be given antibiotics after birth as well.
There are certain conditions which increase the chances of group B strep in the baby. This includes ruptured membranes 18 hours before delivery, membrane rupture before 37 weeks, fever in labor or an earlier baby born with group B strep.
Your doctor will monitor your progress closely if you have had a problem with group B strep in a previous pregnancy. If your membranes rupture, call your doctor as antibiotics may need to be started.
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