Everything You Need to Know About Chickenpox When You're Pregnant

Also read: Varicella or chickenpox: symptoms and treatment

Also read: Cytomegalovirus (CMV): dangerous during pregnancy

Chickenpox dangerous during pregnancy

If you get chickenpox during pregnancy, contact your (family) doctor immediately. Especially at the end of pregnancy, this can be very dangerous.

• If you are pregnant, you have an increased risk of serious pneumonia. Especially if you get chickenpox in the third trimester.
• If you are first infected with chickenpox in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, there is a small chance (about 2 percent) of serious abnormalities in the unborn child, such as limb deformities, eye abnormalities and damage to the central nervous system.
• Infection after the 20th week does not cause congenital abnormalities.
• If you have chickenpox around birth (between 5 days before and 2 days after birth), the baby can become seriously ill. The baby should be treated with antibodies against the chickenpox virus as soon as possible after birth.

If the baby develops blisters and becomes ill, treatment with an antiviral drug is indicated.

Also read: Can you eat sushi during pregnancy?

What can you do?

What can you do?

Have you not had chickenpox or do you not know? Then avoid contact with children and adults who may have chickenpox or shingles (zona). A person is contagious from 2 days before to a maximum of 7 days after the appearance of the blisters, or until the blisters have dried up. If you are not yet pregnant, you can get vaccinated against varicella. Then you must wait another month before you become pregnant. If you notice the symptoms of chickenpox, it is best to go to your doctor immediately.

What can your doctor do?

If you are not sure whether you have had chickenpox, your doctor can do a blood test to see whether or not you are immune. If you are not yet pregnant, your doctor can also vaccinate you against chickenpox. If you have come into contact with someone who has chickenpox or shingles, the doctor can start treatment with antibodies. If you get chickenpox yourself, that treatment will definitely be started. If you get infected during the first 20 weeks? Then the doctor can use an ultrasound to see if there is any damage to the baby.

Also read: Which vaccinations are recommended during pregnancy?