I am just finding this information fascinating and wanted to share. I have never had an issue with GBS and was tested for it during my first 3 pregnancies, but this info is so intriguing.
From the CDC...Group B strept in a type of bacterium that causes illness in newborn babies and pregnant women. It is the most common cause of life-threatening infections in newborns.
Can GBS disease among newborns be prevented?
1. Most GBS disease in newborns cans be prevented by giving certain pregnant women antibiotics though the vein during labor.
2. Vaccines to prevent GBS disease are being developed so that in the future, women who are vaccinated may make antibodies that cross the placenta and protect the baby during birth and infancy.
For detailed info from the Center for Disease Control regarding GBS
www.cdc.gov/groupbstrepFor those who know there has GOT to be a better way. Some like to call us crazy, hippie, earth crunchy freaks who just like to cause trouble. :O) I am not saying that GBS is something to take lightly. I am just pointing out that there may be a healthy and sensible way to avoid GBS disease apart from unnecessary antibiotics.
From Gail Hart, Certified Practicing Midwife...
" VAGINAL FLORA CULTURE, ORGANIC GARDENING, OR CHEMICAL WARFARE?"
Like it or not, we are always growing something in our vaginas good, bad, and indifferent.
The human vagina is never sterile--indeed it cannot be made sterile--but we CAN cultivate the organisms which make us healthy, by learning their natural growth patterns and how we can improve their preferred growing conditions. Think of the vagina as being like a garden, nourishing both flowers and weeds. Some gardeners use poisons to control weeds, a chemical warfare which can toxify the ground and which will usually need many repetitions. Modern organic gardeners use a different method--they learn the natural balance in their gardens, and change the soil to benefit the plants they wish to grow, and to make it more difficult for weeds to take root. We can adopt this thinking to our own "internal gardens," our own "vaginal horticulture," encouraging the good guys to be the dominant group in the natural vaginal flora and letting THEM get rid of the bad guys for us! A healthy vaginal flora can even fight and prevent group B strep from colonizing and we would all like to see more "negative strep" cultures!
The good news is we don't need to become microbiologists to do this. The other good news is that "vaginal horticulture" is relatively simple to learn and easy to do.
OF the many organisms which love to live within us-many of the "friendly ones" are inimical to those we would prefer to avoid-and most of the "good guys" grow best under certain conditions which the "bad guys" dislike.
The good guys are lactobacillus--the bad guys are staph, strep a and b, yeast, "BV", trich etc, and where you find one, you often find others. As a rough rule of thumb, the good guys like a ph of under 5--the bad guys prefer a more alkaline environment. Lactobacilli not only prefer an acidic environment, but they secrete hydrogen peroxide which makes the vagina even MORE acidic and make it harder for the bad guys to grown. So an organic gardener would advise us to make the vagina more acidic and plant more locatable to control an over-growth of bacteria. GBBS, and yeasts. Another benefit of lactobacilli is they exert an antibiotic effect on GBBS! (me: That is SO cool.)
Anway, I will sum up in my own words. There is a 2 step process involved in creating a healthy vaginal flora culture, which can in turn can reduce the incidence of GBS and yeast infections. There are tests that prove this method of "cleansing" does create a healthy environment in the vagina. I will try and add links later.
Step 1...Prepare the ground by making vagina more acidic. The simplest way is to douche with a mild vinegar solution of 1-3 TBS per pint of warm water. Preggies use a safe kind of douching called "jug douching." Do 2 -3 times daily for a week, then 2X a week, then 1x a week for a few weeks, and then maybe never again. This creates a fertile environment to move onto...
Step 2...Plant the seeds of lactobacilli by using yogurt as a sort of intravaginal cream. It can cause some very impressive changes both in pH and floraculture.
In summary, I find it amazing that this information is not being presented by doctors to their pregnant clients. How will we ever find a safe solution to this "most common cause of life threatening infections in newborns" if we are not even being offered sensible and simple steps to try on our own? What happens when the antibiotics are no longer effective?
A bit more GBS prevention right in your own home.
1. Vitamin C with Bioflavinoids 500/mg/day
2. Usnea tincture 10 days prior to due date :15 drops 3x a day
3. Garlic equivalent of 1-3 fresh cloves/day
My pH was a 7 at my last prenatal. I will have been "preparing the garden" for approximately a week and a half by my next appointment. I will report back with pH results.
