AimThe aim of this study was to complete a pilot project to ascertain if the research design was appropriate to determine whether a daily oral dose of probiotics can reduce the rate of vaginal group B streptococcal (GBS) colonisation in pregnancy. MethodologyA pilot randomised controlled trial was performed which recruited 34 GBS-positive women who were approximately 36 weeks pregnant. The participants were randomly allocated to the control group, who continued with standard antenatal care, or to the intervention group, which continued with standard antenatal care and received a daily oral dose of probiotics for three weeks or until the birth of their infant. A lower vaginal swab to detect the presence of GBS was collected three weeks post consent or when a participant was in labour. ResultsNo significant difference was found in vaginal GBS rates between the control and intervention groups. Only seven of 21 women in the intervention group completed the entire 21 days of probiotics. A subgroup analysis, including only those who had completed 14 days or more of probiotics (n=16), also showed no significant difference in vaginal GBS when compared to the control. As a secondary finding of the analysis did show significantly more vaginal commensals in the probiotics group (p=0.048).iii DiscussionThere are five possible reasons for the lack of significant results: The length of the intervention was too short. The dosage of the probiotics was too low. The wrong strains of probiotics were used. The sample size was inadequate. Oral probiotics are ineffective in impacting vaginal GBS. ImplicationsThe secondary finding of a significant increase of vaginal commensals (normal

Posters S43Method: The antenatal education service is semistructured and provides three (3) group sessions with two (2) 1:1 sessions with each couple. A basic level of information is given in the group sessions and the 1:1 sessions allow opportunities for the midwives to expand on basic information to levels the couples are comfortable with. Education tick lists and evaluations of the education experience are the quantitative and qualitative measures used to gather outcomes thus providing evidence for possible modifications.Results: The initial results have shown the group education experience to be friendly, informative, and at a level of knowledge appropriate to the couples. The 1:1 personalised experience demonstrates the couples enjoy the opportunity to expand on their newly gained knowledge to include information they feel relevant and, opportunities to ask questions that may be embarrassing/uncomfortable in a group. The midwives experience has met the expectations of the service and thus far boasts a 100% attendance rate.Implications: Traditional antenatal education alone does not provide for an innovative service or dynamic interaction with women and their families. Personalising information delivery and contact provides a context to break traditional paradigms and increase educational effectiveness. Future expansion to this service will provide opportunities to involve allied health professionals to enhance a multidisciplinary approach, and fitness programs to assist the women to maintain or re-energise their health and well-being.Background: Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is the leading cause of bacterial infections in the neonate in the developed world. This bacteria is passed from a woman's vagina to her newborn during the process of labour and birth, potentially causing pneumonia, septicaemia and meningitis in the infant. In order to prevent neonatal GBS infections most hospitals have protocols in place that identify pregnant women at risk of infecting their newborns and give these women intravenous antibiotics in labour to inhibit the transmission. The disadvantages of intravenous antibiotics in labour are the development of antibiotic resistance in GBS and non-GBS pathogens, the inhibition of the colonisation of the newborn's gut with the appropriate flora and the medicalisation of childbirth. It has been shown that women with higher colonisation of vaginal Lactobacillus are more likely to have no detectable vaginal GBS. This raises the hypothesis: Would increasing the colonisation rates of Lactobacillus in pregnant women's vaginas result in a decrease in GBS colonisation rates? A pilot randomised controlled trial is proposed to determine if oral probiotics may be a strategy

No abstract