Is Every Baby Born To A GBS Colonized Mother At Risk for Group B Strep Disease?
Acquiring Group B Strep disease is serious but it is not cause to treat every woman who is colonized. While the most abundant information presented to parents showing that GBS infections that are not treated immediately can become fatal is correct there is much more information that is not included but bears hearing and weighing in your decision to consent to GBS screening and whether or not you choose to accept IV antibiotics in labor, the protocol advised by ACOG and supported by the CDC. First, babies do not acquire GBS infection solely at birth. There is evidence that they can become infected in utero meaning the babies become infected while they are in their mother’s womb before labor even begins (Characterization of Group B Streptococcal Invasion of Human Chorion and Amnion Epithelial Cells In Vitro). Secondly, every newborn has their own biologically normal immune system and not every baby who comes into contact with the bacteria subsequently becomes infected and/or becomes fata
