Birmingham Women’s Hospital offering new Group B Strep Screening for expectant mothers
Birmingham Women’s Hospital is the first hospital to offer Group B Streptococcus screening to mothers in Birmingham, as part of a national research trial.
The Group B Streptococcus 3 (GBS3) trial, led by Phern Adams, Principal Investigator, and Chloe O’Hara, Lead Research Midwife at the Women’s, is looking into a new GBS swab that helps to combat Group B Strep in newborn infants.
The screening is a continuation of the GBS3 Trial, where routine testing of pregnant women, which started in November 2022, takes place in late pregnancy or during labour affecting up to 2 to 4 women in 10. These tests are looking to see if the mother carries GBS to reduce the risk of infection in newborn babies. GBS is a bacterial infection common in both men and women, affecting up to four women in every 10.
In most cases, the infection is harmless but can be fatal for newborns if pregnant women remain untreated with intravenous antibiotics in labour. GBS causes an estimated 150,000 preventable stillbirth deaths every year which is why GBS3 is becoming an important test to opt ‘yes’ for and ‘ask for GBS Screening’.
Principal Investigator for the GBS3 trial, Phern Adams, Women’s Hospital said: “By offering the information at 28 weeks, all women under our Women’s Hospital services, receiving antenatal care and delivering at our hospital will be given the essential knowledge in advance by their clinical care team so that they have time to make their decision for treatment.
“This will also streamline the process of GBS testing for our clinical colleagues and ensure all women are offered time to consider testing, at approximately 36 weeks.”
Our Women’s Hospital is taking part in the national GBS3 Trial to help diagnose mothers through preventative swabbing (vaginal and rectal) and offer them effective treatment choices to ensure the safety of their babies.
If you’re self-testing, it is important not to test too early so that an accurate result is obtained, and women can be offered treatment if positive in labour. 35-36 weeks is the optimal time to be tested. We ask that patients bring their test back to the hospital rather than post them back to us, as the test will expire during the postal period.
Want to be tested? Ask for ‘GBS Screening’ at your next antenatal appointment or get in touch with your midwife or research midwives and get yourself a swab pack.