strep b

hi im a student midwife and just wanted to ask a few questions about strep b. i have a baby with it, who is also fitting. what kind of outcome should i expect. my gut feeling is that it isnt going to be good......should i trust this and pray for a miracle anyway????

Are you saying you just delivered a baby with step b? These days, the outcomes are much better because of penicillin given to the mom during labor. Did the mom know she was pos.? Dr's will recommend giving mom penicillin...if she didn't get it, there is a good chance baby will be sick with resp. symptoms, possibly on a vent with antibiotics.

What do you mean by "fitting"?

I too have a few ????? The NM's I worked with always cultured. Also what is fitting?

The OP posted a similar question on another forum in which she stated that Mom was known to be (+) for strep, but delivered too quickly for antibiotics to be administered.

My question would be whether or not the baby was promptly transferred to the nursery for a septic workup and immediate administration of antibiotics. I think that could have a huge impact on the baby's outcome. One of the frightening aspects of neonatal strep is how rapidly it can overwhelm the newborn, leading to serious complications and death. I once admitted preemie who seemed relatively stable at birth, but died within the shift of an overwhelming strep infection. (This was over 20 years ago, before mothers were routinely screened for strep.)

I believe that by "fitting", the OP means that the baby is having seizures. This evidence of neurologic involvement would deepen my concern for the baby's long-term prognosis, but is only part of the clinical picture. Is the baby requiring mechanical ventilation? Is his B/P stable without medication? Is he having significant numbers of apnea and bradycardia episodes? Is his blood count normalizing?

It is my belief that prayers will help, and should never be with-held. My best to you and your patient!

It has been my experience that if they are born with GBS meningitis and they are seizing soon after, they usually have some deficits.

Hi guys kiwimid here with an update. Turns out baby has a metabolic disorder. Something about long chain fatty acids. baby had no recordable blood glucose on admission to nicu. eek. they did an ultrasound of his brain and he is going for a mri sometime this week. the birth was rapid, so the usually proticol around iv antibiotics wasnt done. also because her membranes ruptured just before baby was born, less than an hour, the risk was ment to be small. as it stands, the blood culture has failed to grow anything. also, he was weaned off the vent but is now back on it as he had a lung collapse. and yes by fitting i did mean seisures but as yoou can tell im not a great speller...hahah. thanks for the concern and i will keep you posted.