A review published in the BMJ shows that universal antenatal screening for group B streptococcus may cause more harm than good.
Potential harms of GBS screening “outweigh benefits”
Tag: GBS
New systematic review on chlorhexidine
It feels rather fitting to have spotted this new systematic review and meta-analysis in the same week that we are running our Group B Strep Explored online course! Freely availably in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, the paper by Bell et…
A tool to help parents to spot neonatal infection
In my blog post about the updated UK guidance on preventing early onset group B strep (GBS) disease (Hughes et al 2017), I mentioned that there was a call for all pregnant women to be provided with appropriate information about…
Updated UK GBS guideline
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has published an update to their guidance on preventing early onset group B strep (GBS) disease. The guidance calls for all pregnant women to be provided with appropriate information about GBS to support…
Group B Strep: the realm of mysteries
“To study neonatal Streptococcal B infection is to enter the realm of mysteries… How to explain that microbes from maternal origin may be pathogenic for the baby? Several decades ago, we learned that, compared with the placenta of other mammals,…
A new online course: Group B Strep Explored!
I am very happy to announce the birth of my latest online course, Group B Strep Explored! Our online courses run on set dates, usually in the spring and autumn. You can see if we have current dates open on…
Incorporating bacteria into childbirth education
The past couple of years have seen more germ-related research, thinking and discussion than ever, and there is a noteable swing away from the one-sided view that germs are ‘bad’ things to be avoided and washed away with antibacterial soap…
Maternal antibiotics (e.g. for GBS) and imbalance in baby’s gut bacteria
A study which will be published in the BJOG has given us more information about the way in which antibiotics given in labour – for example as prophylaxis for group B strep, caesarean section or because of pre-labour rupture of…
Quote of the Month – May 2015
“To study neonatal Streptococcal B infection is to enter the realm of mysteries… How to explain that microbes from maternal origin may be pathogenic for the baby? Several decades ago, we learned that, compared with the placenta of other mammals,…
Who safeguards mothers?
I’ve been researching and writing about group B streptococcus (GBS) and early-onset GBS disease all summer (Wickham 2014), and this has entailed having lots of conversations – both verbal and written – with women who have made different decisions in…