Same story, different ending!
Rhianna just commented on the gbs and alternative remedies post:
Hi there!
I was just reading your blog. You are correct in saying there is so little out there about the Dangers of GBS… my son was born just 2 weeks before your Wren, he got pneumonia caused my GBS also. Luckily, we were in the hospital for his birth and the nurse happened to hear him making the noises while breathing. He was my 2nd baby and my 1st was a grunter, so I thought it was similar, but you are right, there is a certain noise that a child in respiratory distress makes and it’s hard to just know it isn’t normal when you hear it.
The nurse took him and got him checked out. They started antibiotics right away, while running tests, later to find out it was GBS. My labor had been only 2.5 hours start to finish, so I hadn’t gotten the antibiotics. He was though born at 37w2d, so his risk should have been slightly lower… he was a healthy 8lb baby and healthy in every way, other than the sudden early-onset of GBS.
Anyways, all this to say, I’m due in the next 4 weeks to have another baby. I’ve done lots of natural treatments to prevent the GBS, just in case, but I will also get the iv during labor… it’s a scary thing, but the hospital will be monitoring my baby immediately after birth to be sure there are no signs of it happening again.
I’m so sorry for your loss. I appreciate the effort you are putting into getting the word out there about the dangers of GBS. It is a very scary thing that so many people don’t understand how important it is to be tested and to be treated. If you
are interested, you are welcome to email me and see how my 2nd birth goes and whether this baby has any GBS complications… I know you are expecting another baby (or I gathered that from reading your most recent post) so I know you’ll be hightailing even more research… Thanks again.
Hey Rhianna,
Wow, our stories are so similar… just two weeks before, within 4 days gestationally, no IV, and pneumonia due to GBS. Thank you very much for the note.. I only wish we hadn’t had a home birth, maybe our story could have turned out like yours.
We’re pretty worried about GBS again now with this pregnancy, but are confident that if we just get the antibiotic IV as soon as Tweeny goes into labor or her water breaks, and if we carefully monitor the baby in a hospital afterwards, we should be fine.
We are also considering perhaps even doing a planned c-section at 39 weeks (if we get there!) to REALLY minimize any chances of GBS entering the uterus even before labor (possibly resulting in stillbirth) or infecting this baby during labor. You might want to talk to your doctors about this possibility too.. it really is the overall safest way to get the baby out! 🙂
As I’m sure you already saw in the post, alternative remedies for GBS really don’t do anything. They shouldn’t hurt really(except for douching! Never douche!), except in that they provide a dangerous false sense of security. The ONLY thing that matters is getting that IV as soon as you can and monitoring your baby after birth. Since you already had a prior baby with infectious GBS disease like us, you don’t need to get tested this time around… for this and all future pregnancies you just get the IV.
I would love to hear how it goes this time around. I’m confident everything will go fine though! Good luck!!
Thanks,
josh!
I delivered my baby at 32 weeks (unexpected preemie) and I was also GBS+, we did a round of antibiotics but since labor was so quick there was no time for the full recommended dosage. Along with the range of other health issues, we monitored for the GBS and were very grateful to have passed through that clear. I am sure you are in many discussions with your doctor, but your comment about c-section being the safest way gave me a momentary pause. The nurses in our NICU had told me that a vaginal birth is better than a c-section to stimulate the release of fluid from the baby’s lungs (avoiding transient tachypnea). Also with c-section there is a small risk of fetal laceration from the surgeon and a moderate risk of the child later developing asthma ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18571547 ). I have also read that there are benefits from being exposed to the “good” bacteria vaginally ( http://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2010/06/22/babys-first-bacteria-depend-on-birth-route ), and that there is possibly a greater risk of maternal infection by GBS on a c-section incision.
Obviously though, all research is weighed in your particular experience and medical staff experience, and and you make whatever decision is best for your family and your situation…I just have been researching the delivery routes if I decide to try for a second child, as the GBS+ diagnosis by itself was very stressful throughout my pregnancy. I cannot even imagine what you two went through, and how you must feel. You are providing a wonderful forum for this important topic, thank you.
Hey Diana,
Thanks for writing! Of course every situation is different and it’s best to always go with the advice of trained medical professionals! I’m just saying that overall, the trend towards more c-sections has been coupled with (and of course, correlation is not causation!) an overall drop in infant mortality. There can of course be cases where a c-section is not the right move, but it does seem like it really can be more often than frequently understood:
I don’t know if we’ll do a c-section or not this time, as we get a little closer to the due date we’ll discuss it more with our doctor. But if there’s any overall increased chance of success vs. vaginal birth, we’ll take it!
josh!
Hello my loves,
As a trained medical professional, I would like to also point out the as-yet-unmentioned risk to the mother with c-sections. I realize this is small, but, surgery and anesthesia is never risk free.
love always! Grandmama
Just wanted to mention that while an increase in c/s may have decreased infant mortality, Maternal mortality is increasing here in the US. C/S can also put you at increased risk for losing any future babies. C/S increases risk for stillbirth in future pregnanices and increase risk for placental issues such as accreta(may require a hysterectomy). C/S also limits your choice for a vaginal birht in the future as lots of hospitals have stopped doing VBACs.
I think you guys were totally screwed by your midwives! The lack of consistent education among lay midwives has forced me to choose CNM’s for my homebirths. It doesn’t hurt that I am a NICU RN either. I do not think hospitals are bad places obviously I work there!
Good Luck with this very important decison. Many prayers to you and Tweeny and this already beautiful little girl. Wren will NEVER be forgotten and I have shared his story with every midwife I have come in contact with.
Hi Rachael,
Thanks for the kind note! We really appreciate you telling the story of Wren. We just want everybody to take GBS seriously!
We definitely were worried about the risks of a c-section, and we were considering not doing one. But, our doctor checked around with many of his peers and given our specific situation and history, their consensus recommendation was to get one. And at 37 weeks even, not 39 like I said above!
In terms of maternal mortality rates increasing in the US, I remember when that report came out! It confused me, because just logically, it makes no sense that as medicine progresses we would actually get worse at something (I can imagine us not getting better.. but actually worse?). It seems very likely (and this post makes some persuasive arguments) that the “increase” is actually due to a change in measurement of maternal mortality. http://skepticalob.blogspot.com/2010/03/hold-handwringing-is-maternal-mortality.html
It is true that a c-section increases future odds of placental issues and risk of future stillbirth after 39 weeks. However, the doctors and us decided to worry first about what’s going on right now, and not make decisions based on future hypotheticals!
Who knows, maybe we won’t have another kid! Maybe there will be new studies/procedures/medicine by the time we do! Maybe if we have another c-section at 37 weeks the risk of stillbirth is not increased.
Overall there are pros and cons to getting a c-section, I just would like emotional and social stigma to not be one of the cons. With 1/3rd of births being a c-section these days, it’s pretty dysfunctional for society to make anybody feel guilty, ashamed, or less of a woman for getting one!
josh!
Please I beg you at least have your MD check for lung maturity prior to the elective C/S. I have seen to many babies electively delivered with premature lungs. Women are no less for having a C/S and nobody should feel guilty or ashamed especially if they are making informed and educated decisions.
I will say only what I know about increases in maternal mortality. They are happening. Yes, some are related to change in measurement and some are related to “sicker” mothers giving birth. There are still a number of preventable deaths. Illinois has seen a measurable rise in hemmorhagic deaths due to inadequate care in the hospital.Illinois has now mandated that all RN be trained in hemmorhage management.
IN this country we do have one of the highest maternal and neonatal death rates of all industrialized countries but yet we spend more money per mother. How does this happen? We as a country are obviously NOT doing something right. Countries in which midwives do the majority of obstetrical care with appropriate transfer of high risk care to OBs have the lowest death rates.
I did see a pic recently of a woman delivering at home with a CNM. She was laboring in a birth pool with her IV in for GBS antibiotics. Homebirth does not necessarily prevent appropriate care the two can marry beautifully with a well educate midwife.
I am praying for a happy healthy baby for you and Tweeny. I also pray for a safe delivery no matter how that delivery occurs.
I’m so sorry for your loss of little Wren. I’m surprised by parents’ willingness to forego the safety of the hospital, certainly we don’t do home dentistry or home liver transplant, just as much can (and does) go catastrophically wrong at home birth, despite what Dr. Ricki Lake would like us to believe. I had my second child nearby, at Cedars. When I presented to L&D, my latest GBS results hadn’t come back. So they treated me as if I were GBS+. Turns out, I was. I’m very glad they were conservative “interventionalists.”
I’m so glad Juney is doing well! Best to all of you, and blessings for Wren.