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Dear Alesa & List,
Thank you for the reassurance. It's great to
some more of the picture on this topic, and the various frames of
reference.
I really do not want to have the IV during labour -
for several reasons. I am also conscious that all being well with the
labour and birth, and because I have opted for the Family Birth Centre, I will
be home possibly 36 hours max after the baby is born (which is great), but
for this reason I'm not sure if the babe will have been observed for long enough
to show signs of illness or infection.
Do you know the procedures for assessing the status
of the infant regarding Strep B (I guess there's no simple diagnostic test to be
administered?), and how soon after birth can this be confirmed?
Another thank you (I know I'm gushing - but am so
appreciative of the support) to you all - the list has been
absolutely fantastic in providing info and education on this for
me. Until I get to my homoeopath on Monday, I've switched to a Candida
diet, and am swallowing acidophillus capsules as an early measure
anyway...
Regards,
Jo Slamen
Melbourne
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, March 02, 2002 2:04
PM
Subject: RE: Strep B
Dear Jo
I am always interested in what I see as the
hysteria that surrounds the Strep B debate. I work in a private hospital and
the women here are all under the care of their own Dr. The hospital itself
does not have a policy regrading treatment of strep B as each Dr has
trained under a different system. They keep up to date and are aware of
current treatment options practised at the public hospitals in surrounding
suburbs. I trained in a public system which treated all women who were
positive with antibiotics in labour and was horrified the first time I
saw a Dr ignore this "rule". That was many
years ago.
Some Dr's still treat known Strep B women in
labour this way, most do not. We watch the
infant closely and treat the infant, if an infant is affected they will
usually develop symptoms of illness within the first 24 hours. I have not seen
many babes who succumb to Strep B infections in the last 20 years and of
these, many of the mothers have been of unknown status at birth as most of the
Dr's do not subject women to vag swabs in pregnancy.
I am not trying to minimise the risks which Strep
B will bring to some infants, but I personally think that this risk is
overated for the majority of women and their
babes, and the option which we follow is a safe
alternative to intervening in pregnancy and labour
Regards
Alesa
Alesa
Koziol
Clinical Midwifery
Educator
Melbourne
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