Compliance with the GBS prophylaxis in labour guideline was audited at PRM 20 years ago with 32% cases having appropriate antibiotics. This inspired us to audit the current practice and compare result

 

To determine the proportion of women at risk of having a baby with Early Onset Group B Streptococcal infection (EOGBS) receiving adequate intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) and to compare with the results of a similar audit in 2001.Review of all births during the month of September, 2022. Electronic maternity records (Badger) facilitated the review. Adequate IAP was defined as a time interval of at least 4 hours prior to delivery and appropriately repeated.

 

The majority of our women at risk of EOGBS are receiving some IAP. 

 

However, there is room for improvement. Compared to practice in 2001, there has been an increase in the proportion of women receiving some IAP (from 51% to 60%) but the proportion of adequate IAP was effectively unchanged (from 32% to 30%). Improving our performance will be challenging given the unpredictability of labour. However, targeting the highlighting of IAP within the electronic record is likely to be the most fruitful approach.