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I have just been told by my GP, and confirmed by another who looked at the rash, that I have shingles. All she said was that bubs will have immunity. Been doing some research and while it does say that shingles will not harm my baby, I am concerned that I will still be in the active stage when bub's is born and that there will be a chance I will give him chicken pox.
I go to the OB on Thursday so will ask him to do a BT or something.
Any advice or experiences would be welcome.
S
I've not got any advice... and I think your Ob will be able to answer all your questions and hopefully put your mind to rest.
but I can relate to what you are going through.
A week or so ago, my father was diagnosed with shingles. Being a typical male, he left it as late as possible to go to a doctor. At which stage, he was 'contagious'. I had had chicken pox & shingles myself... so I wasn't too concerned. But my step-mum freaked out; scared that it could harm my unborn baby. So I phoned my ob and he put my mind to rest. Both myself and the baby would be completely safe.
I am sure you and your baby will be okay. But it's getting very close to delivery date - so you will want to be informed.
I hope you're not in too much pain from it. My dad was really suffering.
Hi Saffi
I see this is a bit of an old thread - but I really would like to know how you go.
At 38wks I saw an old friend for the first time in months (kiss hello, lots of close contact, a hug, 5 hours of chatting over dinner, etc). 1.5 days later she had the chickenpox. Because I didn't have any immunity to chickenpox (hadn't had it before and the BT my OB did confirmed this) there was a real chance I could come down with chicken pox at term which my OB said I "really didn't want". Apparently it is really serious (baby getting seroius infection and dying). I was given artifical antibodies and 2 days later after the antibodies should have crossed to the placenta I had a c-section. I elected to have the c-section. I wasn't pushed by my OB to do so. The neonatologist had told me it was much better for bub to be a few days old and getting the chicken pox than being born while I was in the middle of an outbreak. Given our circumstances, my OB agreed to do the surgery. It would have been much better to hope I'd go overdue and birth naturally, but there was no telling if this would be the case.
As it turns out, neither of us got the chickenpox. I don't know if that is because we were never going to get it, or because the artificial antibodies they gave me worked. I have since had another BT and I am now immune to the chicken pox (the antibodies they gave me have done this) so that is a good thing anyway.
For anyone reading this, if you have chicken pox or shingles PLEASE stay home until you are no longer contagious. It's not paranoia. It's reality. You just never know who you are putting at risk. It was really scary wondering if our precious daughter was going to get the infection. She was our second baby - our first was stillborn. As you can imagine, those 3 weeks until we were all clear were terribly stressful.
Saffi - hope your bub is fine. Will try and do a search to see if you have posted anything about the birth.
Thanks Smelly for your reply. I can imagine how stressful it was for you in those weeks. Not to mention going through tests and the immunisations and of course the precautionary c-section. I am glad that everything turned out ok for you both. Yes, it is essential that contagious people stay at home until they are given the all clear. Problem is many people don't know they have a contagious disease until it is too late.
As for me, all is ok. I had a really mild case. OB deferred my induction by a few days to allow maximum healing time. As it turned out I had a spontaneous on set of labour right in the middle of the 2 days. By the time I delivered I had pretty much recovered and the rashes were all scabby and dry and not infectious. Even so a paed was brought in when I got to the delivery suite to check me out. It was decided that bubs didn't need any form of assistance or antibodies at birth. 5 days on he is the picture of health.
Saffi, it is great to hear that you've made a speedy recovery and that your baby arrived safe and sound!
Yeah... congratulations on the birth of your Baby!!!