What Do I Have?
A common infection a patient can contact before or during labor is called Chorioamnionitis. Chotioaminionitis is the infection of the chorionamnionitic membrane and the amniotic fluid and umbilical cord. Chorioamnionitis affects between 1 and 10 percent of women at term and up to 33 percent of patients who deliver preterm.
How can a patient get infected with Chorioamnionitis?
Chorioamnionitis develops when bacteria that lives in normal vaginal flora travels up into the uterine cavity. When this happens the amniotic fluid, placenta and the baby are at risk of getting infected. The organisms responsible for chorioamnionitis are E. coli, group B streptococci, and anaerobic bacteria.
Some of the common risk factors for chorioamnionitis includes:
Long labor
Prolonged rupture of the membranes (bag of waters)…show more content… Specemen might be hard to collect in patients who are in active labor. Chorioamnionitis can be diagnosed if there is a low concentration of glucose and a high concentration of white blood cells and bacteria in the amniotic fluid.
How Is Chorioamnionitis Treated?
Ampicillin (Principen) or penicillin (PenVK) plus gentamicin (Garamycin are the most common antibiotics used to treat chorioamnionitis. These meds specifically group B streptococci and E. coli . other broad-spectrum antibiotics-such as cefoxitin, cefotetan, cefepime (Maxipime), ampicillin-sulbactam, and piperacillin-tazobactam-may be used for patients who are allergic to ampicillin or penicillin.
What steps can you take as a health care worker to help with the Prevention of Chorioamnionitis chorioamnionitis is a serious condition that possesses a high risk of complications in the mother and her baby, some steps that can be taking to help prevent this infection are:
• It is important to screen patient for bacterial vaginosis in your late-second trimester. If test is positive, immediately treat patient with proper