Pregnancy health and Group B strep

Could Group B strep harm your baby?

According to the American Pregnancy Association, up to 40% of women carry a bacterial infection called Group B streptococcus. The bacteria can pass to a baby during childbirth, potentially causing physical and mental disabilities and, in the worst-case scenario, proving fatal. Yet most women aren’t even aware they’re carriers unless a simple test during pregnancy confirms it – there are usually no symptoms (though some women who carry GBS do experience vaginal burning and irritation, and have frequent bladder infections), and you can be perfectly healthy and have it.

Will your baby get ill?

Not every baby born to a GBS carrier becomes ill. But there is a risk that your baby may contract it during your labor, when he’ll come into contact with the bacteria via the amniotic fluid and your vaginal fluids. Giving you intravenous antibiotics during your labor ensures that the GBS bacteria is sufficiently reduced to leave your baby unharmed as he passes through the birth canal. If you are a carrier, be assertive about making your carers aware of your status and asking for antibiotics when you go into labor.

Figures from the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) indicate that as many as one baby in 100 whose mother carries GBS will become sick. The risk is even higher if you go into pre-term labor (the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that women who go into labor before having had a GBS test are given antibiotics until their GBS status is established). You’re also more likely to pass it on if you have a fever or urinary tract infection at the time you go into labor.

Around 5% of babies who become infected die although most who survive go on to develop normally. GBS can, however, cause meningitis – and this in turn can result in sight and hearing loss, mental retardation and learning disabilities.

Signs to watch out for…

Signs your newborn may have contracted GBS include lethargy, pneumonia, sepsis and meningitis. But babies can develop the infection up to a few months after they’re born. Group B Strep International points to these signs as possible symptoms your older baby has GBS:

• Irritability marked by inconsolable or high-pitched crying, shrill moaning or whimpering.
• Grunting as if she’s constipated.
• Poor feeding, refusing to feed and projectile vomiting.
• Excessive drowsiness Sleeping too much and not waking for feeds.
• High or low temperature Her hands and feet may still feel cold even with a fever.
• Unnatural skin tone It may be red and blotchy, or a pale bluish-gray due to lack of oxygen
• Breathing problems Fast, slow, or difficult breathing.
• Stiff or floppy body She may be listless and floppy or stiff with uncontrollable jerking.
• Bulging soft spot on top of her head.
• Blank stare She may seem to be in a trance.

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