Valtrex is the medication used to treat genital herpes. You can take one tablet a day for prohylactic treatment, or you can take 2 a day if you feel the signs of a outbreak occurring.
Valtrex is not contraindicated to take in pregnancy, however there have not been enough studies done which entirely confirm its safety either (according to its classification on MIMs).
I faced this issue with my first pregnany, and got next to no information from my midwives, except them telling me I should not take Valtrex during pregnancy (which isnt exactly true).
Apparently if you are undergoing your very first outbreak of genital herpes during pregnancy, then that is where the danger lies.
If it is a recurrent outbreak then there is far far less risk to your baby.
I weighed up the risk and took one Valtrex per day 2 weeks prior to giving birth to Aidyn. I would rather have taken the small amount of medication than risk him being exposed to the virus during birth - as there was always the possibility that I was shedding the virus without an outbreak.
I will also do the same for my next pregnancy...
I think c/s is too drastic, and wouldn't go down that path unless there was an active outbreak at the time of labour/birth.
ETA: Valtrex is in category B3, Quoted from MIMs -
ETA2 - I personally would not take Valtrex for the any of the previous 8 months of my pregnancy - only when approaching birth, as I felt the pros outweighed any risks at that stage.Category B3
Drugs that have been taken by only a limited number of pregnant women and women of childbearing age, without an increase in the frequency of malformation or other direct or indirect harmful effects on the human fetus having been observed. Studies in animals[1] have shown evidence of an increased occurrence of fetal damage, the significance of which is considered uncertain in humans.
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