Group B Streptococcus (group B strep, GBS) bacteria commonly live in people’s gastrointestinal and genital tracts. In some countries, women are tested for GBS towards the end of their pregnancies (36-37 weeks) and if a woman tests positive for GBS, there is a 1-2% chance that their baby will develop GBS disease, if GBS is not treated with antibiotics during labor.

To prevent early GBS in newborns, a pregnant mother can test for GBS towards the end of her pregnancy and receive antibiotics during labor (if there is a positive GBS result). It's important to know that a pregnant mother has the option to decline GBS testing and/or antibiotics during labor (if there was a positive GBS test) and decide to treat with antibiotics during labor if risk factors arise (risk factors such as preterm labor, fever during labor, water has been broken for more than 18 hours, previously gave birth to a baby with early GBS disease, and/or GBS in the urine at any point during pregnancy). Some women would like to avoid using antibiotics during labor to protect their microbiome and their baby's microbiome since antibiotics can kill both the bad and good bacteria in the gut, affecting the strength and health of the immunity systems.

1 in 4 pregnant women carry GBS so don't stress if you test positive. If you do test positive, it’s important to know that you can ask for a retest because you can test negative in a short amount of time! It’s best to retest about a week after your first positive.

What can you do to prevent a positive GBS result? A probiotic! A probiotic that has Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Lactobacillus reuteri RC-14 has been known to possibly reduce vaginal and rectal colonization of GBS. 43% of the women who took these probiotics daily before bedtime from 37 weeks until birth, no longer tested positive for GBS. You can also limit sugars (even natural sugars like fruit), eat fermented foods, and drink diluted apple cider vinegar daily. It’s also important to drink lots of water!

So, if you do test positive for GBS, how the heck did you get it in the first place? Group B strep (GBS) bacteria commonly live in people’s bodies and usually are not harmful. You probably had no idea you even had it! How people spread GBS bacteria to others is generally unknown.

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