baby with hep c

[raven82]

i was diognosed with hep c while i was pregnant and was told my daughter may not have it.i still don't understand this considering her father has it to.i don't know anyways.she is now two months old and has it though it still may be my antiboties.i've lost my job becouse no daycares want to sit a child with hep c and i cant pay my insurance now.what can i do?is there any way she can be placed on some kind of disability,could i .is there any help out there?

[jmjm530]

Hep C is not passed on by the father and only passed on by a very small percent of Hep C postive mothers giving birth.

The fact that your baby has antibodies doesn't mean she has hepatitis C. Only a viral load test (often referred to as a "PCR" test) can tell if she really has Hep C.

If the Viral Load test is negative, your doctor should be able to give you a note saying your daughter does not have Hepatitis C.

But even if she does have it, I don't understand how she can be discriminated against in a day care setting. Maybe others here can be of more help in this regard.

Don't worry too much until you have her further tested. Best person to see is a liver specialist (hepatologist). They are found at your larger, teaching hospitals and no doubt have more experience with baby's and Hep C.

All the best.

-- Jim

[Alady1620]

You cannot know if your child has hep c or not for sure until she is over 18 months of age.  Until that point, she will test positive for the antibodies but that doesn't mean she's infected.

I had hep c when pregnant with my twins.  Both were tested at 19 months and both are negative for the virus.  The chance is less than 5 percent that your baby caught hep c from you.  

[Algernon]

My son tested posted for the antibodies until well after he was a year old.  He never got HepC and most babies don't.  You don't need to tell any daycare or employer or anyone else that you have HepC.  It's none of their business.

[bobbyullc]

WHY did you tell them you have hep c???? even if the baby has hep the chance of passing it on to other children is nil..with one of every 50 people at least having this, the chance that they will come in contact with a hepper almost every day is great...mum's the word mum..

[NYgirl]

Neither of my kids got it and both I and my exhusband had it when they were born. I knew he did but I didn't know I did...and they are now 16 & 18.


It's a VERY small portion (although POssible) that do get it this way.

I hope that helps.  There are lots of moms of uninfected kids in here.

[amommy]

It is very unlikely that your child is hep c positive.  The antibodies will show positive until 18 months of age or so, but you can tell prior to that by having a PCR test.  
I know that everyone here says it is unlikely to happen, and I agree it is unlikely.  However, I find it VERY VERY VERY frustrating as someone who is a mom to a child with HCV that it gets swept under the carpet as a possibility.  It IS a possibility, and a VERY real one at that.  The good part is, IF it is the reality for your child, he or she will be ok.  Children with this disease fare well and plenty of new treatments are coming down the pike.  I just felt as though I had to speak up because the same people reiterate over and over how unlikely it is, but without giving credence to those of us who are living through it with our children.

[famon1341]

I am reading a very old post of yours and am currently waiting for my son's results to come back for his hep c antibody test.  Any words of insight on how you are dealing with this or how you coped while you waiting for your child's results to come back would be most helpful.

Thank you.

[Kim63]

I have had hep c for over 23 years. I have 2 kids, 13 years apart. I was so worried that they would contract it from me. I had one by c -section, the other vaginal. To make a long story short, they are both negative. As others say, there is only a 5 % chance of passing it along. I know how hard it is to wait out the results, but think positive. My second childs Dr. ordered the wrong test, and we lived for 6 months believing she was positive. After seeing Maureen Jonas at Childrens Hospital in Boston, we got the right test, and was thrilled to hear it was a huge error, the first time. I truly believe that you have to be an advocate for you and your family, as some Dr's are not up on Hep C. Hang in there, you have many well-wishers here !

[Isobella]

I've been where you are now.  Not sure how old your child is, but my daughter was 18 when I was diagnosed.  I decided to take charge of my hcv and face it head  on with a brave (educated, strong)  face so I could be a good example to her if the event she was also positive.

As it turned out, she does have hcv.  She doesn't let it rule her life.  I think the fact that she was busy graduating highschool and leaving for college during all this helped.

I just finished tx, and she is waiting for the new drugs to come out.  Totally ***** to have passed this on to my lovely daughter, but the reality is, there is so much worse out there.

The chances are only 6%, so the chances your kid will be ok are much greater than the alterntive.  

Hang in there.  My heart's going out to you.

Isobella