Wanting to Start a Family

I contracted Hep C from my mother at birth, but was not diagnosed until age 16.  I am now 25 years old and have been married for 1 year.  My husband and I have been together for 5 years now and we want to start a family, but I am very hesitant because of the virus.  I live in a small city and do not wish to have my child at the HORRIBLE hospital here.  Though my current OB/GYN is very nice, she is completely lost when I ask her questions regarding my Hep C and future pregnancy.  I have sooo many questions and do not know where to start.  When I search the internet, I find a lot of conflicting information in regards to C-section vs. vaginal birth, breastfeeding and etc.  My husband and I decided that we would try to locate an OB in the Las Vegas area, since we are only a short distance away and their hospitals are 100 times nicer that ours.  There are soooo  many practicing OBs in the Las Vegas area, besides calling, is there a way to find out if any particular OB is familiar with Hep C and pregnancy???  Is there a website or place that anyone has found helpful with questions regarding Hep C and pregnancy???  I would greatly appreciate any information I can obtain.  =)

[alagirl]

I would definitely find someone in a larger city since your pregnancy will likely be categorized as high risk.  Call the obgyn department at the hospital you would like to use, or go up there, and ask the nurses who they think the best obgyn there is.  Its worth the trip too to just look at a couple of hospitals and see what type of facilities they have.  They are almost always happy to give tours of the labor wing.

The risk of transmitting during pregnancy is about 5%, fairly low.  Breastfeeding is frequently not encouraged as it can pass hcv, although the mechanism of that is thought to be from abrasions or cracks in the nipples as opposed to the actual breast milk.  Still, in articles I have read some physicians aren't certain that's the only reason for transmission during breastfeeding so it remains kind of an open question.

[merryBe]

since you are so young your chances of successfully treating are excellent. Might you not give consideration to going ahead and treating now, that way you won;'t have to worry about passing it to your kids, plus, you won't have a weaken liver, but a healthy new liver, which would make for a healthy pregnancy. If you started tx now, you could br SVR and ready to conceive in 2 yreas without the sword of damacles hanging over all of you and stealling your joy.

just a thought.

mb