NaturalChildbirth.org

[Alison]

Groups beta strep, or group b as it's sometimes called, is one of the biggest things going on right now in obstetrics.

In the United States, every pregnant woman is tested for it, unless she declines, and every one that comes back positive is treated. Elsewhere in the world, women are tested based on risk factors and the positive ones are treated based on having two or more risk factors.

What is GBS?
GBS is a bacteria that is a normal part of the rectal flora. Most people carry it in their rectums. Sometime, apparently in about 40% of US women, it somehow manages to migrate to the vagina. Of the women who test positive, a very small number, less than 10%, of those women will give birth to babies who have contracted GBS from their mothers. Of that small number of babies who've contracted it, about 1-3% of those babies will actually get sick from it. The ones who get sick have a very high mortality rate.

Sounds potentially bleak, huh. And it does have the possibility of being very, very bad. But look at those numbers. It is an exceptionally small number of babies who are being affected.

So what does medical science do about GBS? They treat each and every mother who tests positive with to doses of IV antibiotics during labor and the doses must be given 2 hours apart. In so doing, they are saving the lives of 12% of the affected babies. That's right, even with their treatment, they are only saving 12% of that small number of affected babies!! Unfortunately, in giving antibiotics to all babies and mothers, there are an almost equal number of babies dying from other pathogens that are just as bad as GBS, but were given the opportunity to grow in the infant BECAUSE of the antibiotics! E. coli and other bacteria are given a foothold by the very treatment meant to save lives. If you look at the numbers, GBS treatment with antibiotics is just one big crap-shoot.

What can a mother do?
First and foremost, you have to decide if you want to be tested at all. If you get tested and come back positive, then you have stress and worry over how to treat this extremely low-risk condition. If you don't test, your baby will still be watched very carefully for signs of infection.

If you choose to have IV antibiotics and you don't get both doses before your baby is born, your baby is at higher risk of infection than before because the hardier strains have been left and the weaker ones killed off. Your baby will probably get a lot of painful blood work done to see if he is infected.

If you choose to have IM injections of antibiotics before labor, know that when they've tested, they've found the antibiotics in the baby's system up to a couple of weeks after birth, which is good for fighting GBS, but bad for avoiding thrush, a painful yeast infection that babies get in their mouths and throughout their digestive systems and their mothers get it on their breasts. Babies who's mothers got IV antibiotics in labor don't display this effect.

If you choose to have oral antibiotics, there doesn't seem to be as thorough coverage in the baby, but still longer affecting that IV antibiotics.

There are also natural things that can be done to bring the GBS under control. The following is a listing of a recommended course. Be advised that I am not a doctor and I am not prescribing, but rather sharing information given by others who've successfully treated this wholistically.

Supplies to buy:
1 small sea sponge, cut in half
Mega Flora (Mega Foods brand only!)
Grapefruit Seed Extract
Betadine
Blueberries (fresh is best, frozen next)
Vitamin C with rosehips 500 mg
Odorless garlic capsules

Using the supplies:
Vaginally-

Mega Flora- Insert 2 capsules high in the vagina, making sure you have just thoroughly washed and dried your hands)

Betadine sponge- Mix 1 tablespoon of Betadine into 1 cup of water. Soak the sponge till it has absorbed all it can and insert it into the vagina. Leave in place for 10 minutes, remove and thoroughly wash the sponge in hot water and soap. Rinse completely so that there is no soap residue and then place in boiling water for 2 minutes. Air dry on a clean paper towel.

Orally Mega Flora- 2 capsules 2x a day
Grapefruit Seed Extract- 1 capsule 3x a day
Vitamin C- 1 capsule daily with your prenatal vitamins
Blueberries- 1/2 cup every day
Garlic- eat lots of fresh garlic and 1 capsule 3x a day

Hygeine-
Strep love to live in the rectum so wipe front to back
Always use clean wash cloth when bathing
Launder your undergarments in HOT water and/or bleach. Use 1 cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle.

Every day take the oral recommendations. In the first week, do the vaginal recommendations every other day. In weeks 2 and 3, do the vaginal recommendations every 3rd day. Continue on with the oral recommendations until birth.

This is a listing of many options. Do your own research and decide for yourself what you want to do about GBS. Never do something just because you were told to do it.
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"The truth shall set you free, but first it will make you mad."

"And the time came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom"