Group B Strep

I'm 36w pregnant with my second child. Was GBS+ with first child. My doctor plans to give antibiotics with second -- I haven't been tested yet, but she says that, once GBS+, she will treat as if always GBS +. (Does that make sense?)

My question is this. I recall reading that to reduce the risk of GBS infection in the baby, you should try to minimize invasive procedures, including internal exams, stripping or rupturing membranes, and internal fetal monitoring. Is this correct? If so, at what point should you refuse internal exams? I assume this includes pre-labor examinations as well as those during labor to check on progress? How many are safe? How dangerous is internal fetal monitoring?

Thanks.

You need to question once positive always positive because that's not true. If your child was born with GBS, like mine, you're always considered positive and get the antibiotics durning labor. Get tested and go from there. Internal exams are almost always not necessary. If the doctor wants to do an internal ask him why and is it needed. I also didn't have any internals during labor. I'm linking a post from Cathie about always testing for GBS in every pregnancy below.

http://messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=iv-ppgbs&msg=2421.4&x=y

Alicia