Current strategy in the UK

The current strategy recommended by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), and adopted across the UK, involves identifying risk factors in the mother for their baby developing group B Strep (GBS) infection.

Infection is more likely to happen if:

  • your baby is born preterm (before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy) – the earlier your baby is born, the greater the risk
  • you have previously had a baby affected by GBS infection
  • you have had a high temperature or other signs of infection during labour
  • you have had any positive urine or swab test for GBS in this pregnancy
  • your waters have broken more than 24 hours before your baby is born

Intravenous (through a vein) antibiotics given in labour are highly effective at reducing the chance of a newborn baby developing a group B Strep infection.

You will be recommended to accept intravenous antibiotics in labour if your baby is born preterm.

You will be offered intravenous antibiotics in labour if:

  • you have previously had a baby affected by GBS infection
  • you have had a high temperature or other signs of infection during labour
  • you have had any positive urine or swab test for GBS in this pregnancy

If your waters break after 37 weeks of pregnancy and you are known to carry GBS, you will be offered induction of labour straight away. This is to reduce the time that your baby is exposed to GBS before birth. You should also be offered antibiotics through a drip.

Additionally women with GBS carriage in a previous pregnancy are offered the option of bacteriological testing for GBS in late pregnancy with intravenous antibiotics during labour if the result is positive, or intravenous antibiotics during labour without testing.

Further reading

There is lots of useful information on the RCOG website.