We studied 110 women and their newborn infants to determine the relation between maternal carriage and neonatal group B streptococcal colonization. Vaginal, urethral and rectal swabs were obtained from the pregnant women during labor. Within a few minutes after birth and on the fourth day of life, swab specimens were also taken from the external auditory canal, throat and umbilicus of the infants. The overall maternal carriage rate was found to be 8.18 percent. The frequency of transmission to the neonates was recorded as 66.66 percent among maternal carriers. In the early neonatal period, the colonization rate of GBS was found to be 5.45 percent among the newborn population.

Keywords: neonatal sepsis, group B streptococcal colonization, maternal carriage