Many women, already at the stage of pregnancy planning, scrupulously examine their bodies for possible infections that can harm the unborn baby. And while carrying a child, fears of catching an infection that will harm the baby become especially strong – after all, it is extremely difficult to choose a treatment that is not dangerous for a woman and an unborn baby. Estet-portal.com examined in more detail what exactly a pregnant woman should be afraid of in the world of infections, and in what cases the infection poses a threat to the unborn baby.
Which infections during pregnancy should be feared
The greatest danger to the unborn baby is those infections that a woman encountered for the first time during pregnancy. At the same time, the shorter the gestational age of a woman who has caught the infection, the more severe the consequences for the baby can be.
- Rubella. Able to penetrate the placental barrier, causing severe malformations. From the second trimester of pregnancy, the risk to the fetus is significantly reduced.
- Cytomegalovirus. In case of primary infection of a woman and an acute course, it can cause sensorineural hearing loss in a child, provoke cerebral palsy, microorgan diseases.
- Herpes. In the third trimester, it is dangerous by penetration through the placental barrier and provoking neurological complications in the child – if manifested by chickenpox; with genital herpes, there is a risk of infection of the baby during childbirth, but the process is mild or completely asymptomatic.
- Hepatitis B. In the acute course of the disease, a woman is more likely to infect her child. If the disease is in a chronic stage, there is a risk of infection of the baby during childbirth.
- Chlamydia. Dangerous for the baby when passing through the birth canal – may cause conjunctivitis, otitis, pharyngitis.
If shortly before delivery a woman falls ill in an acute form of one of the infections of the TORCH complex, then the child will not receive it in utero, but may become infected during childbirth and recover with symptoms characteristic of his age
Acute respiratory viral infections and influenza can affect the health of the fetus in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy – up to the formation of gross malformations. Later, they no longer threaten the baby, but they can increase the risk of fetoplacental insufficiency, premature birth, fetal hypoxia.
If the tests showed that the woman had previously been ill with the detected infection and has antibodies to it, then the disease is less dangerous for the baby. Infectious diseases in the acute stage confirmed by tests should be treated, with a careful choice of drugs that will create the least risk to the child.
Factors that increase the risk of infection during pregnancy
During childbirth, the child is deprived of placental protection and, upon contact with blood in the birth canal, with biological fluids of the vagina, it can become infected with an infection that has become more active in a woman shortly before the onset of labor. Factors that increase the risk of such infection are:
- massive microbial contamination of the genital tract,
- strength of the woman's immune response;
- stage of the infectious process;
- Degree of infectivity of the pathogen.
Factors such as hypoxia, weak labor, polyhydramnios, isthmic-cervical insufficiency can increase the risk of infection of the baby.
It should be remembered that a great danger to the unborn child lies not only in the impact of an acute infection, but also in the influence of toxic waste products of microbes, as well as in the intake of strong drugs that fight the infection. The choice of such drugs should be very careful and justified as much as possible.
A high temperature in a pregnant woman, which often occurs with acute infections, has a bad effect on the unborn baby: in no case should you try to reduce it with folk remedies in the form of compotes and fruit drinks if the thermometer shows values \u200b\u200babout 39 degrees for several days. In this case, drug therapy is necessary.
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