Herpes and pregnancy

[shirley176]

I recently found out I am 5-6 wks. pregnant and have antibodies to herpes type 2. Has anyone been pregnant with herpes? What are the risks of transmitting to the baby? I know there is a risk during delivery if you have an outbreak- what about the risk during the rest of the pregnancy?

[rlm92286]

When she was born they were never worried about her or testing her....now i'm a little concerned. The hospital was aware I have hsv2, so I'm sure the pediatrician who checked her knew about it, but it never really seemed like a concern.

[Latrice414]

that should be as i stated above.

rlm, if you dont mind me asking, does your baby have the hsv antibodies

[Latrice414]

I understand what your stating, as i stated about i said you can get it other ways besides sex, not sure if you saw that part. And normally what ever antibodies the mom has the baby normally gets thats why i inquired. As far as hpv, i think people dont no much about it, thats why women get pap smears to detect abnormal cell growths and yes, warts could be detected at that time.

[rlm92286]

I found out i had hsv2 when i was about 6 months pregnant. I was devastated because I thought I had done something horrible to my baby. When it was time to give birth I was taking valtrex (completely safe during pregnancy) and I had a vaginal birth. My babygirl is now 6 months old and completely healthy!

[jesslee83]

my "niece" has to have her blood drawn every 6 months due to all of her many health conditions.....now, idk exactly how it is done,but i do know they do a herpes test, as mom had multiple outbreaks during pregnancy, and had a vaginal birth.....

honestly, i thought there was a test given at birth for that, but every 6 months, or a little less/more, i get an email from her/them stating that her herpes check cameback clean....i say "her" as in the 4 yr old....and yes, i know the very MANY ways of contracting herpes.....the reason they check so often with my niece, is because of her other issues, her immune system is nothing like it should be, and they are apparently worried if she were to show it later, rather than sooner,it could be harder to control in a small school age child versus an adult with a healthy immune system....also, as with HPV there are MANY strings of herpes, and each has it's own way to come into play.....some strings are ONLY exchanged during sex, some are only exchanged by touching someone.....it's not just skin on skin, it's also exchanged in other ways as well.....if it were only a skin on skin issue, then it'd be a little harder to end up with herpes on your cervix, which is how my friend was originally diagnosed, they thought it was something else,but apparently she'd had an outbreak at a "good" time, and therefore they were able to catch it.....same with hpv, alot of people don't think of the fact that "warts" can grow on your cervix, in your vagina etc....they think if there's nothing on the outside, they are fine.....mine, were on my cervix, not on the exterior of my "parts".....

[Latrice414]

You can transmit it during delivery if you are having an outbreak, but if you are, the dr would do a c-section. From my understanding, what ever antibodies you have, again antibodies help fight against foreign stuff is passed to your baby, so if you have the antibody your baby will have the antibody for herpes also. That means you wont transfer an active virus to the baby. So to my understanding if they test your baby(blood test) western blot test, the baby should show the antibody for it.

Jesslee, i was just wondering when you said an std check, most clinics, unless you are in the service dont just do a herpes test. You have to actually ask your dr to do that test, its not included in an std test. STD test includes gonarehea, chlymdia. they ask if you want hiv and syphillus done. Thats because if those diseases are not treated it can lead to a lot of complications. If herpes is not treated, you can live with that, thats why its not a routine test. 1 out of 5 people have herpes 1 or 2. I cant remember the percentage from center for disease control, but its a high percent of people who have it and dont even no it, some people have it and never had an outbreak, thats why its so hard to pinpoint where you got it from. And you can get it other ways besides sex bcuz its a skin on skin contact disease,

Shirley i dont think you will have any complications. What i would do, is write down a list of questions you want to ask the dr about the situation so at least you feel all your questions were answered, without a list, sometimes we forget to ask stuff.

[jesslee83]

i have a friend with herpes...well, she and her hub have them.....i don't know if there was anything she was able to take during preg to prevent outbreaks,but i know her daughter doesn't have it....and they test her daughter every 6 months with blood, for other health reasons, but they throw an STD check in JIC, and so far, her daughter has shown no signs of the virus(she's 4 yrs old)....i'd talk to your doctor, and see what you can do...i know my friend had to use condoms, so that in the event her hub had an outbreak unknowingly and she wasn't having one, his sperm didnt carry it any farther "north" lol.....