One potential hazard that Moms may face during labor and delivery is the use of IV antibiotics for Group B Strep (GBS) infections.
At around 35-37 weeks gestation, a pregnant woman is routinely given a swab test that determines if they are infected with Group B Strep. This bacterium is very common. Approximately one in every three women carries it in her vagina.
The Group B Strep bacterium, while no threat to the pregnant woman, has the potential to cause very serious health consequences for the newborn baby.
Most women who test positive for Group B Strep are able to go on and deliver perfectly normal, healthy babies with no complications. Â However, a few babies exposed to Group B Strep may develop pneumonia or meningitis either immediately after birth or up to a week later. Â Some babies may have long term vision or hearing loss from the exposure, though this is quite rare.
Like the dangerous, synthetic Vitamin K shot that is administered to all newborns for an extremely rare, bleeding into the brain disorder, the Standard of Care for all pregnant women testing positive for GBS is IV antibiotics during labor and delivery even though Group B Strep infections occur only in approximately 1 out of every 4444 babies born to GBS colonized women (.0225%).
In one review of babies with early-onset Group B Strep infections born in Southern California Kaiser Permanente Hospitals from 1988-1996, use of IV antibiotics during labor “did not change the clinical spectrum of disease or the onset of clinical signs of infection within 24 hours of birth for term infants with EOGBS infection.” (Pediatrics, Aug 2000; 106: 244-250).
Did you get that?
1 out of every 4444 babies still gets sick with GBS infections even if their mothers are treated with IV antibiotics during labor and delivery. Â IV antibiotics make absolutely no difference to the outcome of babies born to Group B Strep colonized Mothers and yet this miserable failure of a medical protocol is still considered Standard of Care for pregnant women who test GBS positive.
Incidentally, antibiotics for a common related condition known as strep throat are not usually necessary either. Doctors just prescribe drugs for this condition because it is easy and patients expect it according to the Journal Canadian Family Physician (1).
Strep throat remedies using natural antibiotics such as cayenne pepper, manuka honey, garlic, and turmeric are fast and effective without the side effects.
Beware of doctors who tell you that the “medical research” indicates that this treatment does work. Â Research is a very different thing from what happens in practice. Research may indicate that a treatment works, but in practice, it may not work at all or may cause even more serious consequences than what the treatment is trying to prevent in the first place!
For example, children whose Mothers undergo IV antibiotics during labor and delivery appear to be highly predisposed for potentially lifelong complications, including severe allergies, asthma, ADHD, and autism just to name a few.
I realize this is anecdotal observation, but most children of the women I know who received IV antibiotics during labor and delivery have some sort of chronic health issue that the parents are continuing to struggle with years after the birth.
Another unintended yet extremely dangerous consequence of IV antibiotics during labor and delivery is the increased occurrence of antibiotic-resistant, “superbug” infections like MRSA.
In addition, IV antibiotics have increased the occurrence of infections such as sepsis and E. Coli. Â Â The sobering truth is that the risks of developing a superbug from IV antibiotics are much greater than the chance of saving your baby from Group B Strep infection.
It is clear that avoiding IV antibiotics during labor and delivery needs to be a priority for every pregnant woman.
It is imperative that this message gets out to Mothers-to-be that antibiotics don’t work to prevent a Group B Strep infection and this treatment has a high potential to predispose your child to the development of auto-immune disease later in childhood. Â Why hasn’t this treatment already been abandoned for lack of efficacy?
While it is always a difficult task to explain pure stupidity especially when such behavior comes from highly educated people trained to deliver care in a supposedly objective manner, my guess is that the boost to the bottom line in requiring IV antibiotics for every GBS positive pregnant woman (one out of every three!) is so powerful and such a dependable source of revenue for hospitals that only pure outrage and refusal of this treatment from an increasing number of pregnant women will stop the practice.
What is the best approach to avoid this dangerous treatment in the meantime while OBs continue to falsely trumpet it as somehow helpful to the birth outcome? Â In my case, I simply refused the Group B Strep test outright.
Even if you’ve had a negative GBS test already (for example, I tested negative with my first pregnancy), you can still test positive with later pregnancies, so when I became aware of the uselessness of this treatment, I no longer submitted to the test at all. With no positive test hanging over your head, medical personnel has a much weaker case for insisting upon IV antibiotics in the first place.
In my opinion, it is also best to seek an out of the hospital birthing environment where the birth process is not viewed and treated as a medical event. Medical personnel attending to a laboring Mom at a freestanding birth center or home birth are much less likely to favor the utilization of this type of treatment than the same personnel in a hospital setting.
If you choose to refuse the test as I did, make sure to consume a quality probiotic throughout pregnancy and especially during the final weeks of gestation which will promote the growth of beneficial bodily bacteria and will give any GBS bacteria (if you even have any) very little opportunity to flourish and harm your baby during the delivery process.
An additional habit to develop while pregnant is to utilize the benefits of fresh vegetable juicing as this practice has a wonderful, alkalizing effect on the body chemistry, Â discouraging the growth of any pathogens such as GBS and promoting the growth of healthy, beneficial, body flora. Ideally, fresh vegetable juice should be consumed on an empty stomach to have the most pronounced, alkalizing effect (2 hours after eating and do not eat anything for about 20 minutes after drinking the juice).
If you are reading this and you have recently given birth to a baby and you received IV antibiotics during delivery, it is IMPERATIVE even if you are breastfeeding that you get your baby on a Bifidus supplement immediately (there are brands made especially for infants) and continue for a month or two so that your baby’s gut can be recolonized with beneficial bacteria.
It is also wise for the Mother to start taking a therapeutic strength probiotic right away as her own beneficial bacteria will have been decimated by the IV antibiotics and her breastmilk will most likely not contain the number of good bacteria that it should as a result.
Another thing I would like to add is my Naturopathic doctor told that the bacteria is on the wall of the vagina so it may be more difficult to get rid of. She told if I still tested positive for urinary infection to use a tea tree oil suppository which I also bought from her. Advice for couples, if you want to be intimate you will want to wear a condom to prevent giving a uti to husband. My husband got a uti because of me. My ND also recommended it to protect husband and wife since if he gets a uti and she finally gets rid of her she runs the risk of getting it again from him.
At an OB appointment at 14 weeks and had a urine test. I was called about a week and a half later I had a Urinary Infection and had to be treated immediately with antibiotics. I am not fond of antibiotics since I am well informed about the nasty side effects from them, including antibiotic resistant bacteria, thrush in newborns, yeast infections, even baby being born resistant to antibiotics to name a few. I kept getting asked for a pharmacy to have my antibiotics sent to being told I need them to take them. I prefer natural treatments and never have needed medications since I was a child. I talked to my OB and explained how I felt about them. I found out by asking that it was Group B Strep bacteria that was causing my urinary infection. She tried to frighten me with completely outdated information about the risks of not taking the antibiotics like my baby dying which is super rare. These studies are really old and very biased. I told her I hate the yeast infections that they bring and am worried about the bacteria building a resistant to them. I asked her if there were any alternatives that I could use. She told me there is nothing else to kill the bacteria and that there is nothing that will prevent a yeast infection. I have treated yeast infections in the past so I knew she was full of it or just ignorant of other treatments that actually work that were not taught in med school. Of course she would say this since almost all doctors don’t take a nutrition class ever in their life and if they do they realize everything else they are learning contradicts it but they can’t do anything but promote pharmaceutical medicine or get in trouble. My OB also told me that there was no need for a second screening saying once I test positive I will always be positive for GB. I decided not to take the antibiotics and talked to a naturopathic doctor instead. She told me antibiotics are not the only solution and there are natural treatments and that it not true about always being positive for GBS one testing positive for it the first time. I was prescribed Argentyn 23, an colloidal silver professional grade. Told to take one ounce every 15 min. for an hour, then one ounce every 30 min. for an hour, and one ounce the hour after that. She told me I could finish it if I wanted to by taking 1 TBS every hour after that. I felt so much better the next morning. No more back pains and no more urges to urinate so often. I highly recommend this product if you can’t take antibiotics or just personally do not want them. You do have a choice. I was told to get a urine test after the treatment and give her a call. She also told me to ask for another culture test from my OB. So we will see how things turn out.
My first I tested positive and was on an antibiotic drip for 24 hours, child has severe food allergies. With my second I refused antibiotics after much counseling from docs and opted for an external Hibiclens wash every four hours. My second has no food allergies and was the happiest baby on the block. I think it’s wise to be tested and seek alternate treatment if positive. It is bad stuff. If you know the enemy you should prepare to fight the enemy. Just don’t let docs tell you there is only one acceptable treatment.
In my peds nutrition practice, I always ask if mom got Group B Strep treatment in labor and delivery. And indeed: have observed for years that this wreaks havoc for baby. Allergies, asthma, colic, developmental concerns -I’d agree all are more likely with this treatment. Thank you for this important post!
I had no choice but to be tested. I went into preterm labor at 34 weeks and was told it was because I was GBS postive. They stopped my labor and put me on procardia for 2 weeks, at 37 weeks I went into labor again and put on an IV of penicillin. I had 2 low doses (it burned!) during my 12 hours of labor and without an epidural had my beautiful healthy baby girl with no other complications or interventions. It was a very hard decision but knowing my daughter would be okay trumped everything else. She’s now 15 months and only has eczema.. which is now clearing up with probiotics and good old vitamin d, not to mention a vegan, gluten free diet. There’s no right or wrong, clear cut answer, but making an informed decision is always a better option than not understanding all possible outcomes.
As a NNICU nurse I’ve seen full term babies seemingly healthy at birth get septic within hours of birth having been exposed to group B strep from delivery. I’ve seen them require extensive support to stay alive to fight this infection and I’ve seen some not make it. I also have heard stories from older NNICU nurses of how terrible and prevalent this was before swabbing and prophylactic treatment. As a somewhat crunchy Mama I am torn about antibiotics but opted to get antibiotics when I tested positive for GBS. I definitely believe that antibiotics have been over used, but also that they have saved many lives.
AMEN! I did this too! They assume that all women have group B strep, those that test positive are then pumping antibiotics into their unborn baby whether the baby has strep or not, tying down the mother during labor, and putting their baby at risk for having an unhealthy gut, which they will need in this GMO food laden culture out here ! How’s that for some bias?
I tested + but opted out of the IV Antbx at my home birth. Did a TON nutritionally in the months leading up to delivery to boost my immune system and good gut flora prior to delivery. Baby was born and remains perfectly healthy! If I have another, I will opt out of the test in the first place.
My daughter was born brain dead from GBS. I am receiving IV antibiotics regardless of my GBS status during labor with this pregnancy. Antibiotics may be overprescribed, but I don’t feel you are accurately representing the situation that may occur with GBS infection. I would much rather have my daughter in my arms and with gut flora issues/autism/ or whatever else you believe may happen than the cremated ashes that she is now. I also contracted a GBS- caused UTI (most are due to e. coli) after her birth which damaged my urethra and I now live with urethritis (constant inflammation of the urethra).
Same here Crysta Kimsey. I tested negative & he was born with it. 13 hrs later, many surgeries, he passed away & is my tiny angel now. With my daughter, I had antibiotics & she is beautiful, healthy, & such a stinking smart little 7yrs old.