The Hard Facts and Effects of Herpes in Pregnancy
What You Need to Know if You Have Herpes and Pregnant
The presence of the genital herpes in a woman will not hamper her to get pregnant nor have kids. As a matter of fact, 25% of pregnant women are suffering from herpes virus. However, many women who are in the middle of their pregnancy and with herpes cannot help but worry because of the negative effects that could happen to their child. This is because when a mother is infected with the herpes virus there is a possibility that the disease could be transmitted to the child. A mother should be really concerned about that probability considering the horrible consequences that it could give to the child. However, according to experts, there is a very low level of risk involved even if the mother has been infected with herpes for so many years already.
Because there is no concrete statistics of herpes in new-born babies, it is hard to estimate the figures of babies with herpes. But according to researchers, there are at least more than 3,000 cases each year in the United States. The total of the babies who acquired herpes from their mother is only 0.1%. This fact has also been established and concluded by one study - that the spread of the herpes during pregnancy is very unlikely. However, when a mother contracted the herpes in the later part of her pregnancy, there is a big chance that her baby will get the disease.
Sadly though, in the event that an infant gets the neonatal herpes, the effects of this can be devastating. Though half of these infected infants can be able to getaway with the disease when properly medicated with antibiotic, a large part of the infant population could endure certain types of severe brain damage, cerebral retardation and even worse, death. These are the awful outcomes that are more dreadful when you have herpes in pregnancy. If you have herpes during pregnancy, it is best that you talk to your obstetrician as far as the management of the infection and the reduction of the risk that your baby will be exposed to are concerned.
Neonatal herpes can be easily transmitted to a child when he or she is in full contact with the HSV type 1 and 2 during the delivery process in the birth canal. Transmission of herpes in pregnancy only becomes more risky when a mother has a dynamic outbreak during the pregnancy and it is because the possibility of viral cracking is also high during this period in pregnancy.
One good thing about babies whose mothers have long been exposed to herpes virus is that they have an innate defence against herpes virus. It is because during pregnancy, herpes natural antibodies travel from the placenta to the foetus which shields the babies from further obtaining disease throughout birth even if there is an evident presence of the herpes in pregnancy. In the months of pregnancy, herpes antibodies are already being supplied by the body in order to save the foetus from harm.
If you are pregnant and you suspect that you have herpes, it is advisable that you talk to your doctor so he or she can make proper examination and give you medicines that will control the spread of the virus.
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