Transferring Herpes To Your Unborn Child

Today, herpes type 1 and 2 are spreading among people at a high rate, understandably causing distress. As unfortunate as it is, pregnant women could very well transfer herpes to their new-born via the process of child birth. It is quite rare to transmit the condition to your new-born baby; just about 1000-2000 infants acquire it via childbirth each year. However, it is clear that the ordeal is not easy or acceptable. These neonates could be provided with antiviral drugs, which will keep any form of permanent damage away. However, the rest of the infants that acquire herpes are not that lucky. They face several grave problems such as mental retardation, neurological disorders, and in the worst cases, death.

A Few Quick Facts Related To Herpes And Pregnancy

  • You can transfer the virus to your new-born if you are having an outbreak during the process of labour;
  • If you have acquired herpes before getting pregnant, it is less likely for you to transmit the condition to your infant;
  • On the other hand, if you acquired herpes sometime during the latter half of your pregnancy period, there is a good chance of you transferring it onto your child;
  • In very rare cases, expecting mothers transmit the infection through the placenta during the first trimester itself. In such a scenario, there is a likelihood of this herpes virus causing terrifying birth defects or a miscarriage.

Some Ways You Could Prevent The Transmission Of The Infection To Your New-Born

  • Let us start at the base: Please be careful about whom are you having sexual intercourse with. With the increasing prevalence of herpes in the world now, there is a chance that your partner has oral or genital herpes. Therefore, it would be foolish to indulge in any form of sexual contact with this person, be it around the genitals or close to their mouth. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a talk with them, assuring them that you do not have the condition, and clearing out whether or not they have it. As the phrase goes, better safe than sorry.
  • Even if you have sexual contact with an individual who has herpes, make sure to use latex condoms. While you will not be a 100% safe, the condoms still provide the best protection from contracting the disease from your partner.
  • Studies and polls have put a fact under spotlight: most expecting mothers put their infants at risk of catching the infection, only because they themselves do not know that they have herpes. This is why it is important that all women hear and learn about herpes, and try to figure out if they have the virus themselves.
  • Being aware alone is of no use either; there are several doctors and midwives who never consider the fact that the neonate may contract herpes. Hence, remind the fact to your midwife or obstetrician and ask them to take precautions accordingly.
  • For expecting mothers who could possibly transmit the infection to their new-born, a caesarean section is probably the most logical and safe thing to do.

Undergoing The Knife

Although midwives and doctors have been making use of this practice for over three decades, only now have we found proof that the best way to prevent a new-born from contracting herpes is by performing a Caesarean section on the pregnant mother. A study that appeared in an issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association proved this point. For this experiment, 202 expecting women who gave birth between the year 1982 and 1999, were observed. While 117 of these women delivered vaginally, the rest had the Caesarean section performed on themselves. Only ten of the neonates had contracted herpes, from which only one had been born via the Caesarean section.

As mentioned earlier, there is a better chance of you transmitting the virus if you are having an outbreak during delivery. This was proven when the mothers of the ten infants were among the 128 women who were having an outbreak during labour.

The study cleared out a few things for the researchers:

  • If the virus was present in the mother’s cervix, risk or transmission was high
  • Premature delivery proved to be a matter of concern too
  • Mothers who were facing the very first occurrence of herpes infection had a higher chance of passing it to their neonate.