Group B streptococci colonize the vaginal and gastrointestinal tracts of healthy women, being present 15–45% of the time when recto-vaginal swabs are collected and cultured (Woods 2014). Women screened around the 37th week of pregnancy test positive 10–33% of the time (CDC 2010). These women should, according to the CDC Guidelines, re-ceive IV penicillin, ampicillin or an alternative antibiotic, when in active labor.

 Read more…. The Beta Strep Dilemma

It was my daughter’s third birthday and this was her question that started our day. Then, as we walked to nursery school, she asked, “When Halloween goes, where does it go?” I’m still working on an explanation for the spiraling movement of time, and the effort is helping me understand why my daughter talks so often about what she will do when she is a baby again. If Halloween will return next year, why not her babyhood, too?

 Read more…. Unhurrying the Moment of Meeting

There has been a huge increase in postpartum nipple thrush since the onset of the standard of antibiotic treatment in both GBS+ mothers and cesarean section births. Nipple thrush is frequently overlooked since the symptoms do not show up until anywhere from one to six weeks postpartum. Even then, the symptoms are very often poorly diagnosed as just poor latch, normal initial tenderness or let-down. There are clear differences between these symptoms and symptoms of thrush, but many times the mother is told to “tough it out” instead of getting the treatment that she and the baby need. Clearly, vast education would aid in being able to recognize the differences. With let-down, the sensation is as if there are threads (sometimes with little knots in them) that are behind the chest wall being pulled through the nipple and out.

 Read more…. Nipple Thrush: How to Identify and How to Treat