Hi doctor, I am in a need to take steroids for IVF due to autoimmune issue. But, I have herpes 2. Will it affect my baby?
Hi. The biggest concern in a pregnant genital herpes patient is that the infection is transmitted to the baby during labor and delivery, which can be devastating. This can happen if you are contagious or shedding the virus. There is no way to know for sure if you are shedding the virus or not. But, if you have herpes before you got pregnant and you have no symptoms of an outbreak or an impending outbreak when your water breaks or your labor starts, then you will be able to go for vaginal delivery and the risk of transmitting the disease to the baby will be less than 1%. As you develop antibodies soon after you are first infected and you pass these to the baby through placenta on the other hand, if you are having an outbreak or an impending outbreak when your water breaks or when you go into labor, then you need immediate cesarean delivery. This is the case when you have any visible sores on the cervix, vagina or external genitalia or any symptoms such as tingling, burning or pain that signal an imminent outbreak of herpes. To improve the chance of being able to deliver vaginally it is recommended that pregnant women with recurrent genital herpes will be offered oral antiviral medications from 36 weeks till the delivery. For further information consult an internal medicine physician online -->