Group B Strep Test

It came to my attention a few weeks ago about a test that is not available on the NHS and rarely mentioned or spoken about by midwifes or healthcare providers. This is the Group B Strep test. I delve a little further into what is it, why its worth doing, and how you can test yourself for a mere £35.

What is GBS?

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a normal bacterium which is carried by 20-40% of adults, most commonly in the gut, and for up to 25% of women, in the vagina, usually without symptoms or side-effects. If you have GBS it can passed on to your newborn baby during labour and can occasionally cause infection. 

Why get tested ?

There are two types of GBS infection in newborns: early and late-onset:

• Early-onset GBS infection is more common (approximately 2/3 of cases in babies) and occurs when the baby is up to 6 days old; a key symptom is the rapid development of breathing problems, associated with blood poisoning.
• Late-onset GBS infection – usually presenting as sepsis and meningitis – occurs between age 7 days and up to age 3 months. After 3 months’ old, GBS infection in babies is extremely rare.

GBS is recognised to cause preterm delivery, maternal infections, stillbirths and late miscarriages; preterm babies are known to be at particular risk of GBS infection as their immune systems are not as well developed.

Overall, even with current prevention strategies, approximately 1 in every 1,000 babies born in the UK develops group B Strep infection.

On average in the UK, at least

• two babies a day develop a group B Strep infection 
• one baby a week dies from their GBS infection, and 
• one baby a week survives with long-term disabilities – physical, mental or both.

If you are found to have GBS you will likely get put on an anti-biotic drip every 4 hours during labour to decrease the chances of it getting passed onto your newborn. As well as this, your healthcare provider will monitor your baby more closely for his/her first 24 hours.

How can I find out more and/or get tested ?

Follow this link to the Group B Strep Support site where you can find out more info and order and home test kit.

My Views

Im going to test myself around 36 weeks. My husband and I spoke about whether to do this or not, because when I asked my midwife she explained that this bacteria can come and go in a matter of months. Meaning it may be present when you test, and then go by delivery day or vice versa, however when researching a little further, the chances of this happening in 4 weeks is as small as 4%. So we just asked ourselves one simple question, what would we hate more ? Not doing it and not knowing, or doing it and knowing we've done everything in our power to keep our baby safe. Its definitely worth looking into ladies