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Within 3 weeks after my daughter's birth she became I'll and I was told she had meningitis due to strep bacteria. It left her blind, with cerebral palsy and severely retarded. She died at age 16. I was never told how she contracted it. At the time we had assumed somebody with strep throat had gotten in contact with her. I found out myself later what Group B Strep was and asked my doctors to test me for group B strep in my other 3 pregnancies. From then on I begged every pregnant woman I met to spend the $25 for the test. When my younger daughter became pregnant, she was tested at 37 weeks and tested negative. So you can imagine my horror when my newborn grandson was diagnosed with Group B Step when he was 3 hours old. He was talking to a bigger hospital 60 miles away where he was treated for a week than sent back to our small town hospital where he stayed another week. I am so glad to report he fully recovered and doesn't have any lasting affects. He is a smart, bright and oh so cute 2 1/2 year old and I am a very happy grandmother.

I gave birth to a baby boy in 1992. I didn't know anything about Group B strep back then. They did not test for it then, nor did they mention it back then. However, I was obviously positive for it because my firstborn son was positive for it and died from it six hours and 18 minutes after he was born. I was told it was more common for boys to get it than girls. The following year, I gave birth to my daughter. My doctors of course treated me with lots of antibiotics before delivery because of my previous experience. My daughter was born free of GBS. Losing my son was a horrible way to get a lesson in GBS. I treasure my daughter, but I will forever miss my firstborn son. If you are a pregnant woman reading this, make sure you are tested for Group B strep. It can cause death.

This is the only place I have seen GBS and yeast infections together. I had severe "yeast infections" during my pregnancy which I treated, at my doctor's recommendation, with over-the-counter remedies several times; no improvement. I had excessive discharge but no odor/itching all the time. I did test positive for GBS during routine screening at 36 weeks of pregnancy and received antibiotics during labor. However, when I first went to the hospital, thinking my water had broken, I was told that I just had a severe yeast infection with discharge that my water had not broken. They sent me home. I truly believe my water had broken and my baby was probably exposed during the more than 24 hours between that time and when my baby was born. He had early-onset GBS, received NICU/antibiotics then, had late-onset at 5.5 weeks of age, with another hospitalization and IV antibiotics. It looks like the medical pros did what they were supposed to do, except that a GBS infection was not suspected or treated during my pregnancy. Thank God our son is just fine. Other two children have been born without any problem; I received treatment during labor with them also, of course.

I had a group B strep screen come back positive 12 years ago when pregnant for my last child. I was treated and cured and he was born normal and healthy. However, the group B strep came back with a vengeance. I guess I am colonized with it in the vaginal/groin area. Most of the time colonization does not cause problems for people. Unfortunately for me it does. I suffer from a disease called Hidradenitis suppurativa and the sores from it become infected with the group B strep it is awful. I have been on numerous antibiotics all to no avail. No one has suggested IV antibiotics, but I am willing to try it to get rid of this awful bacteria once and for all. I was wondering if there was any thing I could do on a daily basis to discourage the growth of these bacteria.

I retired and moved to a new area. I felt I had vaginal problems since the move. I treated myself for yeast several times and yet the discharge and discomfort stayed. My doctor did the culture which was group B strep and I was treated with clindamycin vaginally. The infection was cleared, but now, 45 days later, I am having the problem again. This is the first time in over 30 years that I have not had chlorinated water.

I had a pap test rejected due to unknown bacteria. Then I was given an antibiotic. I then developed a minor yeast infection and was treated for that. Two weeks after that, what I thought was the yeast infection came back in full force with all the severe symptoms of a yeast infection and sores. I was in severe pain. The doctor thought it was an outbreak of genital herpes. They did a culture, and it came back as group B strep. I am still waiting on the results of the STD test, but I am confident that it is only B strep. The antibiotics are helping tremendously!