Herpes and Pregnancy
While neonatal herpes is quite rare, women who know they have genital herpes are often concerned about transmitting the virus to their babies at birth. Such a risk is understandable, but according to experts, the risk is extremely low, especially for women with known, long-standing infections.

There is an estimated 1000 to 3000 neonatal herpes births each year in the United States. To put this into perspective, while 25% of pregnant women have herpes, less than 0.1% of babies contract herpes from their mothers. Moreover, women who contract herpes prior to being pregnant pose a less than 0.04% risk of passing herpes through pregnancy.

When infants do contract neonatal herpes, the results can be devastating. Mental retardation, serious neurological damage, even death, make neonatal herpes a primary concern for women during pregnancy.


How Herpes Is Spread Through Pregnancy?
During birth, there is a high risk of transmission when the mother is experiencing an active outbreak. In about 91% of all cases, a newborn contracts the virus when coming in contact with HSV 1 or HSV 2 in the birth canal. If you are pregnant and you have genital herpes, you will want to talk with your obstetrician or physician about how to manage the infection and minimize the risk to your baby.

Mothers with long-standing herpes infections provide their babies with antibodies that help protect the baby from acquiring the herpes virus, even if the virus is present in the birth canal. For this major reason, herpes is rarely transmitted to babies, even in mothers who have recurrent outbreaks. In a study of 15,923 pregnant women in Seattle, only one baby contracted neonatal herpes from a mother with recurrent HSV who was shedding asymptomatically at delivery (Brown, New England Journal of Medicine, 1991). Other studies have cited an even lower rate of transmission. Mothers who acquire herpes during the first two trimesters of pregnancy should produce enough antibodies to protect the fetus.

However, contracting herpes during the last trimester may not provide enough time to pass the anitibodies across the placenta. Increased care should then be taken to protect your unborn child. Be sure to consult with your caretaker for preventitive measures.

Transmission Prevention
How do you prevent the transmission of herpes during pregnancy? Knowing is half the battle. A mother who is aware that she is infected is much more likely to know the signs and pre-cursor symptoms of an outbreak. Studies show that most cases of neonatal herpes infections occur when women don't even know they have herpes. When neither mother or provider is aware of the infection, neither is watching for lesions at delivery, greatly increasing the transmission factor.

Experimental Approach
Acyclovir is occasionally prescribed for pregnant women who suffer from frequent or recurrent outbreaks, or those who acquire genital herpes during their pregnancy. The use of acyclovir, valacyclovir, or famciclovir during pregnancy is not recommended by ACOG or approved for use during pregnancy by the Food and Drug Administration.

After the Baby is Born
A vast majority of infections to newborns are attributed to an adult with HSV-1 kissing a baby. Extra care should be taken to avoid any oral contact to the child if you are aware that you have an HSV 1 infection.

If the mother has genital herpes, the newborn should be watched closely for several weeks after birth. Symptoms, such as blisters on the body, are indicative of a herpes infection, and must be treated immediately. Do not wait to see if the situation gets better! Poor feeding, lethargy, or irritability can signal other problems. If your baby doesn't behave well, don't delay taking it to a pediatrician immediately.

yeah,it is useful for parents who is on their way to have a baby,thanks for your articles.

I think this is something that women should discuss with their doctor even before becoming pregant, if a woman has herpes it is very important that she have a complete understanding of everything right from the beginning.

A well-informed physician is able to make more educated decisions when it comes to your primary care and the welfare of your infant. If you have herpes, or think you might have herpes and you are pregnant, you must tell your doctor immediately. Studies have cited a less than .003% chance of a pregant mother passing herpes to her child through birth (even with an active outbreak), but there are risks nonetheless. And these risks increase significantly in mothers who contract herpes while pregnant. The mother's body will not have time to build up a high resistance to the virus and your doctor will take steps to manage the elevated risk.

It is so important that women know this. Women should have all the information possible so that when they choose to get pregnant they can make a well informed decision. It is a parents job to make the best decisions for the welfare of their child and there is no better place to start than being prepared before you even become pregnant.

That is true, many women plan their pregnancy, they start preparing their bodies for their upcoming pregnacy in ways like quitting smoking, eating a more healthy diet etc. being informed about the risk of herpes and an unborn child is one more way to prepare themselves and to help insure a healthy baby.