Mandi's Son   — MANDI TOLMAN, UT, USA

My doctor tested me for Group B strep at 36 weeks. I was told that I was negative for Group B. A week later I woke up and felt that I was leaking fluid. However, I could not decide if I was really leaking fluid or just losing the mucus plug becasue I only felt a drop or so when I stood up or sat down. I did not worry about running over to get checked knowing if you were negative for Group B you had a 18 hour period before they began to worry about infection. Later that afternoon, I decided that I better go get it checked. It ended up being amniotic fluid so I was checked in to Labor and Delivery. My labor was induced. There the nurses discovered my doctor read my results wrong and I was, in fact, Group B strep positive. I was only able to receive one dose of antibiotics. I had leaked 7-10 hours or more depending on if I had leaked the previous night. My son was born and had respiratory distress, feeding problems, and was on artificial ventilation. He is now 7 months old and has a mild to moderate hearing loss and wears hearing aids. My frustration is that, if I had known I was Group B strep positive, I would have gone over immediately to be checked. Had I gone over immediately, would the infection still have spread to my baby? Maybe his hearing loss would hve been prevented. Now we are watching to see if his hearing will worsen. HAD I GONE OVER WOULD THE INFECTION STILL HAVE SPREAD TO MY BABY? AND MAYBE PREVENTED HEARING LOSS. NOW WE ARE WATCHING TO SEE IF HIS HEARING WILL WORSEN.