GBS Infection Could Harm Your Child At Birth

It’s an infection a woman could have and not even know it, and if she’s pregnant it could cause serious complications for her baby.  

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) are common bacteria found in the vagina, rectum or bladder. Although they share a similar name to the bacteria that cause strep throat, they’re not the same.  

According to the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, GBS infections aren’t serious in women and can usually be cleared up with antibiotics.  

But if a woman is pregnant, there’s a small chance she could pass the bacteria on to her baby, which could result in serious complications, including meningitis.  

“The infection is devastating,” Dr. Dan Farine, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Toronto, said.

“The babies could die. The baby could be left with major handicap.”  

Pregnant women should be screened for GBS at 36 weeks. Expectant mom Shari Renaud has tested positive and she will be given intravenous antibiotics when she goes into labour to make sure the bacteria aren’t passed on to her baby.  

She’s confident the birth and her baby will be fine.  

“I don’t feel my baby’s at risk,” she said.  

“I think that women need to be aware that GBS is something you can test for and that all women should be tested.”  

And thanks to widespread testing, 60 percent fewer babies are being born with the infection.

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What Is GBS?

When GBS reaches a woman’s bladder, kidneys or uterus, it can cause inflammation and discomfort. As noted above, this problem can usually be treated with antibiotics.

But some women can be infected with GBS and not display any symptoms. According to the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC), between 15 and 45 percent of pregnant women are infected and don’t know it.

Women who are infected and display no symptoms are said to be colonized.

Most babies aren’t affected, but about one to two percent could become infected. Infected children may show mild to severe symptoms that could affect their brain, lungs, blood and spinal cord.

How Do I Get Tested For GBS?

According to the Department of Microbiology at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital, there are two methods your doctor can use to screen you for the bacteria:

• Cultures for GBS are taken from all pregnant women at 35 to 37 weeks of pregnancy. The test is a vaginal and rectal swab, which you or your doctor can perform. All women who test positive for GBS are then given intravenous antibiotics in labour (usually ampicillin but clindamycin if you are allergic to penicillin). The antibiotics are most effective if they are in your system for at least four hours before the baby is born.
• Another approach is not to screen mothers with a swab but to give the intravenous antibiotics to all labouring women who have a high-risk situation for GBS infection in the baby.

What Are High Risk Situations?

• premature labour (before 37 weeks), 
• prolonged rupture of the membranes (waters broke more than 18 hours ago), 
• fever in the mother during labour 
• women who have had other newborns with GBS infection
• GBS infection in the urine.

The Two Types Of GBS Infections In Newborns:

Early-Onset Disease – in this case, babies are almost always infected as they go through the birth canal because the bacteria are in the mother’s vagina.

The symptoms in this case will show up before the baby is a week old. Early-onset disease can cause lung, brain, spinal cord or blood infections. This is the infection that antibiotic treatment during labour is aimed at preventing.

Late-Onset Disease – In this case, babies won’t show signs of a GBS infection until they are more than a week old. About half of these babies are infected during birth and the others are infected by being in contact with their GBS-positive mom or another person who carries the disease, according to the SOGC.

The most common problem from this infection is meningitis. Antibiotics during labour won’t stave off this infection, but it can be treated with antibiotics after birth.

For more information visit the following sites:

Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada