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ADALYN — AUSTRALIA
Born May 17, 2021 Late-onset Mother's GBS Status: Tested positive Gestational Age: 40 weeks, 6 days Age Harmed: 16 days |
Our Littlest Miss (baby #3) had late onset Meningitis picked up at 16 days old with a temp of 38.8 degrees.
During my pregnancy I tested positive for group B strep. I wasn’t told much about GBS nor did I research anything as I believed I would be given antibiotics during labor and would be fine. I was also given three stretch and sweeps which I have now learnt puts my unborn baby at risk of the bacteria getting into the uterus with deadly implications, thankfully we weren’t affected.
During the labor we didn’t receive the antibiotics as I dilated from 4cm to pushing in 45mins but the doctors said even if we received the antibiotics they only last a few days and probably wouldn’t have prevented this as it was late onset. Babies of mothers who are group B strep positive and received antibiotics have a 1/1500 chance of contracting early-onset GBS and without antibiotics 1/700 so we were unlucky.
I was given no information during pregnancy or after the birth about signs to look for in your baby when GBS positive we just had to stay an additional day in hospital after the birth.
When bubs was born she came out a bit battered and bruised and continued to have a reddish tinge to her skin but I thought this was due to her ambiguous ethnicity.
She also slept a lot and when 36 hours old she slept 8 hours straight without a feed, I notified the nurse as I believed she should not go this long but they assured me it was fine. Over the next two weeks she would sleep 2-4 hour blocks in the day and 4-6 hour blocks at night and was only really awake for feeds so I thought I had a dream baby.
When she was around a week old she displayed jerky movements which shocked me at the time but they soon went away and I put it down to newborn shutters. My husband also experienced something similar with her.
At 15 days old bubs became extremely irritated. I noticed in the evening sitting in my nursing chair in the lounge room really irritated her so I went to lay down with her and she settled. Looking back on this from what I’ve learnt I believe the pressure of the fluid building up in the head was causing sensitivity to the light and noise and would have felt like a migraine from what the doctor said.
The next morning I noticed she was slightly warm so I tested her temperature and it was 37.2 degrees so I kept an eye on it. After we woke up from our afternoon nap bubs was burning up and tested 38.8 degrees so I took her straight to the hospital.
At the time I didn’t notice any other symptoms and thought she was coming down with a cold but it was much more serious.
The local hospital emergency room was amazing with detection and care for our baby as they rushed her through with no time wasted. She was instantly given an IV and pumped full of antiviral, anti-fungal antibiotic medications. She was also given a lumbar puncture to test her bloods and cultures.
She was given three lumbar puncture during our two week stay in hospital to test her bloods and cultures and also to drain the fluid from her head through her spinal cord. The results showed she had late onset Meningitis, symptoms included a urine infection, blood infection and fluid on the brain.
4 months on and we have a thriving baby girl. We still need follow up hearing tests to see if the meningitis affected her hearing but she seems fine and loves to have a chat. The follow up head ultrasound also appeared to have normal neurone pathways. There is still a possibility of learning difficulties down the track but we are positive and told thanks to my mother instincts we got it early and there is likely to be no long term impairments.
I believe there needs to be more education and awareness for mothers who are GBS positive as many babies don’t present until they are having seizures which is when long term damage can occur. Had I known more I may have linked the dots earlier but thankfully we still picked it up in time.
-Elisha
Elisha spreads GBS awareness on Facebook
During my pregnancy I tested positive for group B strep. I wasn’t told much about GBS nor did I research anything as I believed I would be given antibiotics during labor and would be fine. I was also given three stretch and sweeps which I have now learnt puts my unborn baby at risk of the bacteria getting into the uterus with deadly implications, thankfully we weren’t affected.
During the labor we didn’t receive the antibiotics as I dilated from 4cm to pushing in 45mins but the doctors said even if we received the antibiotics they only last a few days and probably wouldn’t have prevented this as it was late onset. Babies of mothers who are group B strep positive and received antibiotics have a 1/1500 chance of contracting early-onset GBS and without antibiotics 1/700 so we were unlucky.
I was given no information during pregnancy or after the birth about signs to look for in your baby when GBS positive we just had to stay an additional day in hospital after the birth.
When bubs was born she came out a bit battered and bruised and continued to have a reddish tinge to her skin but I thought this was due to her ambiguous ethnicity.
She also slept a lot and when 36 hours old she slept 8 hours straight without a feed, I notified the nurse as I believed she should not go this long but they assured me it was fine. Over the next two weeks she would sleep 2-4 hour blocks in the day and 4-6 hour blocks at night and was only really awake for feeds so I thought I had a dream baby.
When she was around a week old she displayed jerky movements which shocked me at the time but they soon went away and I put it down to newborn shutters. My husband also experienced something similar with her.
At 15 days old bubs became extremely irritated. I noticed in the evening sitting in my nursing chair in the lounge room really irritated her so I went to lay down with her and she settled. Looking back on this from what I’ve learnt I believe the pressure of the fluid building up in the head was causing sensitivity to the light and noise and would have felt like a migraine from what the doctor said.
The next morning I noticed she was slightly warm so I tested her temperature and it was 37.2 degrees so I kept an eye on it. After we woke up from our afternoon nap bubs was burning up and tested 38.8 degrees so I took her straight to the hospital.
At the time I didn’t notice any other symptoms and thought she was coming down with a cold but it was much more serious.
The local hospital emergency room was amazing with detection and care for our baby as they rushed her through with no time wasted. She was instantly given an IV and pumped full of antiviral, anti-fungal antibiotic medications. She was also given a lumbar puncture to test her bloods and cultures.
She was given three lumbar puncture during our two week stay in hospital to test her bloods and cultures and also to drain the fluid from her head through her spinal cord. The results showed she had late onset Meningitis, symptoms included a urine infection, blood infection and fluid on the brain.
4 months on and we have a thriving baby girl. We still need follow up hearing tests to see if the meningitis affected her hearing but she seems fine and loves to have a chat. The follow up head ultrasound also appeared to have normal neurone pathways. There is still a possibility of learning difficulties down the track but we are positive and told thanks to my mother instincts we got it early and there is likely to be no long term impairments.
I believe there needs to be more education and awareness for mothers who are GBS positive as many babies don’t present until they are having seizures which is when long term damage can occur. Had I known more I may have linked the dots earlier but thankfully we still picked it up in time.
-Elisha
Elisha spreads GBS awareness on Facebook
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To learn more about Perinatal & GBS Misconceptions, click HERE.
To learn more about the Signs & Symptoms of Preterm Labor, click HERE.
To learn more about the Signs & Symptoms of GBS Infection, click HERE.
To learn more about Why Membranes Should NOT Be Stripped, click HERE.
To learn more about How to Help Protect Your Baby from Group B Strep (GBS), click HERE.
To learn more about the Signs & Symptoms of Preterm Labor, click HERE.
To learn more about the Signs & Symptoms of GBS Infection, click HERE.
To learn more about Why Membranes Should NOT Be Stripped, click HERE.
To learn more about How to Help Protect Your Baby from Group B Strep (GBS), click HERE.