728x90
my iParenting
From Our Sponsors
e-newsletters
Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters

new terms of use
new privacy policy
award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Home › Articles › Newborn and Infant Months › Group B Streptococcus

Group B Streptococcus

How It Affects Mom and Baby

By Jenn Director Knudsen

Pages:  1  2  3  4  

So a woman who tests positive for GBS is not treated, per se. But, ideally, she receives intravenous (IV) antibiotics during labor and delivery for the sake of her baby, Dr. Lauria says. "Not all expectant women toward the end of their pregnancies are tested for GBS, but studies suggest they should be," she says.

An American Academy of Pediatrics study recommends women between 35 and 37 weeks gestation be tested for GBS; the closer to the delivery date the culture is taken, the more accurate the results, whether positive or negative, and the more proactive a health care provider can be for his patient and her newborn baby.

"Recent studies have shown that the best strategy is to test all women and treat those who are positive," says Dr. Lauria. "This results in the fewest infected infants."

Treatment and Risks
Dr. Lauria says doctors coaching a woman with GBS through delivery hope to start antibiotics four hours prior to giving birth. This is done intravenously; a thin needle usually inserted into a vein in the mother's arm allows the medication to flow at a controlled rate into her body via a flexible plastic tube.

Most often, two doses of penicillin are given, but there are other options such as keflex, erthromycin or clindamycin in case of allergy. "The antibiotics cross the placenta and help prevent a GBS infection in the newborn baby," says Dr. Lauria, who is also a mother of three.


Pages:  1  2  3  4  

Want to see more?

Comments

There are no comments for this article yet.Be the first to add a comment.

Post As:
Enter your comment below:
Title
Comment Text
CAPTCHA
Please note that any comments submitted become the property of Disney Family / iParenting and can be edited and posted at our discrection.