Decreasing the Rate of Antibiotics Administration to Newborns of Mothers With Prolonged Rupture of Membranes and Unknown Group B Streptococcus Status Using the Plan-Do-Study-Act Quality Improvement Model

Background Prolonged rupture of membranes (PROM) and maternal group B Streptococcus (GBS) colonization are major risk factors for early-onset sepsis. Managing asymptomatic newborns remains burdensome, as exposing them to unnecessary antibiotics or withholding them when needed is potentially harmful. Decreasing the rate of antibiotics administration to newborns of mothers with PROM and unknown GBS status is important. Methods A quality improvement project applying the Plan-Do-Study-Act model was conducted to test the efficacy of a proposed protocol to lower the rate of antibiotics administration. This protocol uses information on clinical status and biochemical markers, as well as the recommendation of the neonatal early-onset sepsis calculator, to decide whether to start antibiotics administration to newborns of mothers with PROM and unknown GBS status who are asymptomatic at birth. Neonates born at ≥34 weeks' gestation to mothers with PROM and unknown GBS status were included in this work. Results Sixty-six babies were included, 2 (3%) of whom had positive blood cultures, and a total of 24 (41.8%) newborns did not receive antibiotics. The rate of antibiotics administration for 2 days only was 55 times lower than the current practice. The rate of no antibiotics administration was 35 times higher than the current practice (P
Source: Infectious Diseases in Clinical Practice - Category: Infectious Diseases Tags: Original Article Source Type: research