Hibiclens, an antiseptic found at many drug stores, has been used with success by many people as a wash diluted with water three times a day to combat colonization.

There's also lots of other treatments, involving herbs and foods....

Here's a GBS Positive Treatment Plan:

GBS Positive Treatment Plan
-by Karen Ehrlich, CPM, LM

This is an anecdoatal experiment, designed to see if the following both treats GBS infection in the mother, and prevents the baby from getting infected/sick. If someone is trying to use this for prevention, I think that doing simple probiotics is a better idea. Please let me know what results you have if you choose to use this experiment.

This was designed for women who choose to be tested late in pregnancy (the current protocol is 36 weeks- I test at 34 weeks so there is time for the treatment to work if it is positive), whose culture is positive, and who are interested in getting clinical proof that they have eliminated the GBS from their system so they don't have to deal with medical alarmism about being GBS positive. However, if someone does test GBS positive, I recommend staying on the treatment through the rest of the prenancy, since GBS is known to come back when conventional antibiotic treatment is discontinued.

The plan was developed by a pregnant woman in San Francisco who tested positive for group beta strep. She was planning a homebirth, and wanted to avoid hospitalization and antibiotics. She successfully eliminated the bacteria from her genital/anal tracts. Her midwife has used it successfully with two other mothers, and is currently working with a fourth woman who is using this plan. That midwife tells me that it took about 3 weeks to obtain negative cultures, but that she could see that it was working after weekly tests because each subsequent culture showed less GBS growth. I tried it once, but the woman went into labor before she had the time to rid her system of the GBS.

I have added grapefruit seed extract, on the suggestion of another midwife who has used it successfully.

Twice a day, with breakfast and dinner:

• acidophilus - 4 billion cells per dose (The first time I heard a naturopath speak about preventing this infection in babies, he stated that using high doses of probiotics- acidophilus, bifidus, etc.- in the last weeks of pregnancy would prevent the problem.)
• echinacea - 350 mg capsules - two capsules (Note that some people are allergic to echinacea!- this is best used in the last couple of weeks of pregnancy only.)
• garlic - 580 mg capsules - two capsules
• vitamin C - 500 mg with 200 mg bioflavonoids
• grapefruit seed extract - 15 drops

A culture is done every week, to see if the bacteria are decreasing. Whatever the reading is closest to delivery is supposedly the most reliable.

If this regimen is successful at eliminating GBS, I would suggest staying on it until birth, to give the mother the best possible likelihood that it will not be present in her vagina at the time of birth

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And, more:

Strep B Holistic Approach
By Gloria Lemay-

The concern about Strep B involves two groups at high risk of infection:

l. premature infants under 37 weeks gestation

2. any infant in utero with membranes ruptured longer than l8 hours

Contractions are a possible indicator of infection but this is a concern in weeks 0-36. After 36 weeks, Braxton Hicks are normal and a good sign of a healthy, toned uterus getting ready to push a baby out.

Strep B in the vagina is not necessarily illness-related. Just as we commonly have Strep A in our throats on a swab and have no sore throat symptoms, so from one day to the next can we all culture positive for Strep B without any symptoms or danger to our unborn babies.

This is why many practitioners refuse to test for it and simply wait to test until such time as the above two "at risk infant scenarios" show up. One day you might test positive and the next be negative.

To treat with antibiotics before labour would NOT be recommended. Your body could build up a resistance to the antibiotics and so could your babe's body. Then, if either of you got a more serious infection after the birth, the antibiotics might be ineffective. It can also lead to thrush, vaginal yeast, and severe colic in the months after birth.

I would advise you to do as many things as possible to minimize your risk of ANY infections and maximize your immune system. Some safe suggestions:

l. Boost Vit. C in your diet e.g. eat 2 grapefruit per day. Other good sources of Vit C : red peppers, oranges, kiwi fruit.

2. Drink a cup of Echinacea tea or take 2 capsules of echinacea every day

3. Get extra sleep before midnight. Slow down your schedule.

4. Take 3 tsps of Colloidal Silver per day. Take it between meals. Hold the liquid in your mouth a few minutes before swallowing. Coll Silver can be purchased in most health food stores.It is silver suspended in water. It is antibiotic in nature and safe in pregnancy.

5. Plan ahead for extra warmth after the birth for both you and baby. Hot water bottles, heating pads, hot packs, big towels dried in a hot dryer during the pushing phase--will all help you and baby keep extra toasty after birth and reduce stress. Have a friend or family member assigned to be in charge of the "Mother/baby warmth team". The colostrum from your breasts is the best antibiotic treatment your baby could ever get.

5. Other good prevention tips: Keep vaginal exams to a minimum--0 is best. Do not permit artificial rupture of the membranes. Do not allow children of other families to visit the new baby for the first 3 weeks. Keep your older kids healthy so they are not sneezing and coughing on new baby.

I hope this is helpful to you. I often think that we must have had a lot of women who were Strep B positive in the 800 or so births that I have attended. We do not test unless we have long rupture of membranes and/or a preemie. Once the baby is born, we keep all women warm and baby skin-to-skin with the cord intact (velcroed to Mom) and, of course, all our mothers breastfeed. I have never had a baby sick with Strep B in twenty years.

More from Nancy McKay, childbirth educator:

To add to Gloria's regimen:
• Capsicum (cayenne pepper) is higher in vit. c than any other known substance, *and* chases bacteria and virus' from the body.

• Garlic! lots of garlic! antibiotic, antifungal, antiviral- and lowers blood pressure and cholesterol to boot.

• Take echinacea for only two weeks at a stretch, with a break of two weeks. This stimulates your body's own immune system w/out it becoming 'dependent' on the herb to keep it in high gear. Don't take echinacea (or St. John's Wort, or ginkgo) if trying to conceive; they interfere with the penetrability of the egg (sperm can't get in)- also men shouldn't take under same circumstances as their sperm is made less viable.

• Store colloidal silver in cool dark place, away from anything metallic/mechanical (fridges, microwaves/radios etc).