hi. I recently lost my daughter to neonatal death she was born at 23weeks 4days, i found out that i had chorioamnionitis a severe ascending genital tract infection which was the cause of my premature labour. I have just recently found out I m pregnant again, 9 weeks but I m scared that its going to happen again as i believe that the chorioamnionitis was group b strep which i had after giving birth to my first daughter who is perfectly fine. I have been told that once carrying group b strep u are then prone to it during every pregnancy. Is there a chance this can happen again. What should happen through this pregnancy as in antenatal care. please help Becky
Hello, I have gone through your query and understood the concern. Even though you have tested positive for Group B streptococcus (GBS), you need not worry about the fetal outcome. 1 in 200 of untreated babies and 1 in 4000 of treated babies get infected. It is true that you are in the high risk group having lost a baby due to the infection previously. Yet, regular monitoring, prophylaxis with intravenous antibiotics during labor and proper handling of the newborn help to overcome the problem. If you have been tested once during this pregnancy and reported positive, there is no need to get tested again. Otherwise, you need to be tested between 35-37 weeks. A course of antibiotics may also be given during pregnancy since you had the infection antenatal in the past, to arrest the infection temporarily. Hope this helps.