Well, I had my home visit yesterday! My midwife and her apprentice came (and didn't have any problems finding my house- yeah!). I gave them a tour of my house, told them where I was planning on birthing, got the info to order my birth kit, and did my beta-strep test. So this is for real, folks.
Beta strep tests for the presence of a bacteria that, if present at birth, could not be so great for your baby. It can cause sepsis, pneumonia or meningitis in your newborn. So if you're positive and delivering with a doctor, they will probably give you antibiotics every 4 hours or so during labor. This isn't a sure-fire fix, either. A recent study said that antibiotics don't help protect the baby from beta strep, but other studies have said they do, and some antibiotics appear to be more effective than others. But some moms have had unpleasant reactions to these treatments. So...do some research and definitely talk with your provider about your concerns and treatment options if you are positive.
If I am positive, then I will be treated with more natural options: oral garlic/Echinacea, and some others. And, if transporting to the hospital becomes necessary, whether or not I am beta strep positive will be important for the hospital staff to know. I have never been positive before with any of my babies.
Many women have beta strep present, some with symptoms themselves, some without, and the stats of it hurting your baby (even if you are positive) are mind-numbingly low, but because the effects on your newborn can be serious, it's important to be tested and develop a plan with your provider if that test is positive. Having a home birth does NOT mean that I (or my midwife) ignore all the amazing medical knowledge available today. Beta-strep testing, PKU testing on baby, ultrasounds, thorough prenatal appointments....these things are important. But they don't have to take place in a medical setting with the narrow medical viewpoint that many doctors have. In other words, there's more than one way to skin a cat. (No, I would never skin a cat....I have one and I love him! It's just a saying, people!)
Some Beta Strep Stats:
neonatal infection rate: 0.18% (that means 1.8 babies for every 1,000 live births)
neonatal infection rate of babies born to mothers who are asymptomatic, but are known to have beta strep: 0.68%
neonatal infection rate of babies born to mothers with beta strep and have symptoms: 4.68%
Even if you're negative, there's still a risk of you developing it between your test and delivery. Newborn infection rate of mothers who tested negative is 0.05% (1 in 2,000)
So you can see that there's no magic bullet here for Beta Strep, not even for babies born in a hospital with an IV full of antibiotics being pumped into mom. But the odds of your baby being harmed by it are very, very low, so don't let it keep you up at night. Your squished bladder and insomnia-causing hormones are doing that already.
Anyhoo, so I ordered my birth kit! The birth kit is a basically a box of supplies your midwife has put together that you order to have ready for the birth. It includes things like disposable gloves, water tub liners for water births, peri bottles, etc. It generally costs between $40 and $70. Mine was $55. Ordering the birth kit is super exciting for me-it's another reminder to how close I am!
So this weekend I am going camping. For 5 days. I am not sure how this is going to go....sleeping is my main concern. I figure that if I can't sleep, we'll just come home. But I love camping, so I hope my cot, 5 pillows, and memory foam pad will get me through. I've gone camping while pregnant before, but never this late in the game.....so I'll let you know how it goes!
Also, I've been freezing meals like crazy! This week I did 10! I definitely feel the "nesting" instinct and feel like it's time to get ready for baby, and to prep my family to survive with a low-functioning mom for a few weeks (although, they would argue they are already doing that...). Freezing meals will be a huge help in getting through what I call the "survival period"- those first 4-6 weeks. My babies have all started sleeping through the night between 6 and 9 weeks, so I am excited to again have sweet slumber in my future!
See how my mind is just glazing over these last few weeks of pregnancy and the labor and delivery? I am just so ready to have my baby, hold her, and welcome her to our family!
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