When is antenatal care recommended for group B strep in pregnancy?

Group B streptococcus is a bacterium that can live in the bowel or vagina without causing illness. Finding it does not mean you are unwell, and it is not known as a sexually transmitted infection. The reason it matters in pregnancy is that a baby can occasionally encounter the bacterium around birth. Antenatal care gives the team a place to document the result, review your pregnancy, and discuss how it may affect labour care.

Tell your midwife or obstetrician about any previous positive result, a urine test showing group B strep, or a baby previously affected by a group B strep infection. Keep the result available in your maternity records. Ask when your team would give antibiotics during labour and how they will be arranged if labour starts unexpectedly or your waters break. Continue routine pregnancy appointments and follow the plan made for your individual circumstances.

Contact your maternity unit promptly if your waters break, contractions begin, you develop bleeding, or you feel unwell during pregnancy. Mention the group B strep result when you call so the team can advise you without delay. Seek urgent help for severe breathing difficulty, fainting, heavy bleeding, or severe abdominal pain.

Ask whether your result is recorded, whether antibiotics are planned during labour, and whom to contact when labour or fluid leakage begins. You can also ask how the plan changes if a caesarean birth is scheduled.