Just after deciding to move forward with our plans for a homebirth, I was scheduled for my hospital midwife visit. I was going to continue to see the midwives at this practice to receive parallel care for the duration of my pregnancy- not something they look favorably on.
On this day I was supposed to take the glucose soda that tests for Gestational Diabetes. I had decided to decline this routine test simply because my pregnancy had not exhibited any symptoms related to GD. Apparently, at this particular clinic they have a 90% GD rate. *SCARE TACTIC #1* After explaining my reasoning, and hearing the midwife’s recommendation, I stood my ground. She said she would have to check with the OB to see if I was allowed to sign the AMA (Against Medical Advice).
Before she left, I mentioned to her that once we got this unnecessary intervention handled we would have to then deal with my declining the GBS test as well. Come to find out, she had a neighbor whose child died due to GBS. *SCARE TACTIC #2*. I expressed my condolences to that family by stating “Wow, that’s awful”.
I explained that even if I took the test and came back positive that I would not be accepting their protocol for treatment, so instead I was going to do preventive care. When she came back, she informed me that I could sign the AMA for the GD test, but that they would no longer be able to provide my care. Before I left she wanted to know why I had agreed to the blood testing as routine, but not these tests. I just told her that based on the research I had done, that I felt these tests were not applicable to my pregnancy. As she signed me on my way she wrote a recommendation to get an U/S to see ‘what was wrong with my baby’ because I had measured a bit ahead of schedule. >:[ Thank goodness for my supportive homebirth midwives at Birthing Way Midwifery!
I was tooling around online today and found this article from The Contrarian Mom (Easy, Natural Remedies for Group B Strep) and I thought it may help other Mamas that do accept the testing and would like to avoid the 4 hours of IV antibiotics during their birthing time should their results come back positive. Be sure to check out The Contrarian Mom’s Disclaimer before you try any of these suggestions.
How To Avoid Group B Strep
- Eat lots of good yogurt throughout pregnancy
- Try to avoid all antibiotics during pregnancy
- Throughout pregnancy eat fermented foods (they are high in probiotics) like yogurt, kefir, kombucha, homemade sauerkraut, and tempeh, to name a few.
- A week or two before the test, increase your probiotic intake.
- Insert a garlic clove vaginally nightly for a week or two before the test day. Click here for ‘how to insert garlic‘. No, really, I’m serious – garlic is an amazing thing. Bacteria can not live in the presence of garlic. If the pharmaceutical companies could patent garlic, they would be even more wealthy than they already are.
Natural Remedies For Treating Group B Strep Before Deliver
- Start inserting a garlic clove vaginally every night. Click here for ‘how to insert garlic’. -why at night? because you will probably taste it and it’s easier for you and others to deal with the taste/smell when asleep. If you taste it, that is a good sign because that means it’s active and working! You can slit the garlic a bit to make it more potent.
- Take mega doses of probiotics. A good product is called Fem-Dopholis by Jarrow
- Eat fermented foods (they are high in probiotics) like yogurt, kefir, kombucha, homemade sauerkraut, and tempeh, to name a few.
- If you can’t find Fem-Dophilus locally, you can order it from amazon or vitacost.
- Get another Group B Step test done 2 weeks later (week 37/38) you can do it as early as 8 days later if you are running out of time.
- Continue treatment until labor starts or until water breaks – which ever happens first
- Echinacea and Astragalus help boost your immunity and are safe during pregnancy. (both available at health food stores or online)
Did you accept routine tests during pregnancy? How do you feel about the outcomes now? Please share your wisdom!
