Bacterial Vaginosis During Pregnancy

I was dx'd with severe bv around 7 mos; I prayed and cut almost all sugar from my diet, and it cleared up; that pregnancy went (very very) late.

I didn't take any meds while pregnant, including antibiotics. If a 'problem' came up, I considered it as an imbalance, and tried to find the lifestyle changes that would bring things into balance ... so I was coming at it a little differently than you I guess. But cutting sugar is at least an extremely logical way to stop bacterial overgrowth. (Also directly related to yeast infections.)

God bless. It sounds so scary, "bacterial vaginosis," and the threat of preterm birth; I think it made it harder to bring myself into health. It is a real risk, statistically supportable ... but make sure you have people, especially caretakers, around you who are telling you something besides "live in fear!"

Live in hope :).

--K. :).

Hello J.,

did your OB take a culture to figure out WHICH bacteria are causing the problem?
At this point I would insist that he either get a culture done, or I would switch providers. Getting you on and off abx is not helpful and can make your problem worse by creating even more resistant bacteria. You OB should figure out exactly what kind of bacteria colonizes you and give you a very targeted treatment.
You spouse should be tested and treated also, so you don't ping pong the infection back and forth.

Good luck!

Hi J.,

I had BV in my last trimester and gave birth 2 days after I was diagnosed, which was 2.5 weeks early. The birth went very smoothly, and my baby is just fine and very healthy. It's hard to say whether I delivered early because of that, though, because I was on modified bed rest previously for premature dilation & contractions. So I don't know for sure if that was the culprit. That was my experience, anyway. Hope it helps!

D.

If you google "herbs for bacterial vaginosis" great sites come up. I would recommend Garlic, as it is easy to get and such an amazing (nature's antibiotic)herb. it can be used vaginally and orally. Also Echinechea for building your immune system back up. I also read Tea Tree which is a very strong in essential oil form(to put drops in a bath), but I would check to see if it is ok for pregnancy. Good luck with that and a flower for kirsten for the no sugar! that is a MUST!
good luck

I had a problem with this too for a couple of years(!) before I was pregnant. Antibiotics never cured it but cranberry pills finally kept everything in balance. I did a lot of research on the net and talked to a lot of people and learned that my hubby was throwing off my pH balnce (semen is the opposite of acidic (basic?- it's been a lng time since high school chemistry- LOL!) and we girls have to keep things a bit on the acidic side to discourage bacterial overgrowth. So, the more sex we had, the worse my symptoms got. I tried EVERYTHING- teatree oil, vinegar and yogurt douches, rePhresh gel... all worked to some extent but are not the best or easiest solutions (douching isn't recomended and I'm pretty sure sticking tea tree oil up there isn't a great idea either- I was desperate though!). Finally I tried taking 3 cranberry pills every night and it worked! I took them all through my pregnancy and have just recently stopped because we're using condoms. I had absolutely no problems with my pregnancy or delivery though I was Group B Strep positive. The only doctor that cultured me to figure out the BV problem found that out before I was pregnant. That doc treated me for the strep infection but I'm not sure it was necessary- isn't group B step just a naturally occuring bacteria in a small percentage of the population? Sorry for the rambling...
If it were me, I wouldn't take anymore antibiotics. I think that has the potential to make the problem worse- it kills off more than just the bad bacteria and you need the good stuff to keep the yeast in check. Try the cranberry pills- they worked within a couple of days for me. Let me know if it works or if you find an actual cure- I have a feeling I will be battling this problem again at some point.