thrush when pregnant.

[2cherubs]

Hi,
This is my second pregnancy as as with the first I get thrush evry couple of weeks.
I am 6 months pregnant and I am hoping it will eventually calm down like last time.
However does anyone know if you can still delivery your baby naturally if you have thrush and are there risks of passing it onto baby. I am worried that nearer the time if it doesnt go I might have a c-section

[BreadPleaseMummy]

I am pretty sure they would not do a c-section because of thrush. It is really annoying though... I have been struggling with it this time around too. The worst part is I had it in my breasts when breastfeeding my first, and now I have it back again before this baby is even born! I don't know how to get rid of it and am really worried I won't be able to breastfeed. They are already really sore.

[gardenshrub]

I had thrush on & off throughout my second pregnancy & had a natural delivery. I didn't have any of the symptoms of thrush when i went into labour, but ds developed oral thrush pretty quickly so i must have had it! We were prescribed Nystatin by the doctor, it took a while to clear up but it didn't seem to affect his feeding. He was bf & the doctor gave me some thrush cream to put on my nipples to stop it spreading back to me. If i remember correctly, the leaflet that came with the Nystatin said it could be given from birth if the mother had thrush during delivery, to prevent the thrush from developing in the baby. I'm sure your doctor or midwife would be able to advise you if you're worried.

[lowrib]

I had thrush on and off throughout pregnancy. (REALLY annoying!!)

I delivered naturally and DS (now 3 months) didn't get thrush.

[Pumpkin20]

Yes, it can be passed to the baby during labour so it is important that you talk to your midwife and get it treated. Don't pass it off as one of those annoying pregnancy things, it could be harmful to your baby.

Pumpkin

[Pumpkin20]

Sorry, that sounds a bit frightening! I don't think it is harmful to baby now, but it needs to clear up before you go into labour.

There was a letter to the doctor in the Guardian mag on this topic a few weeks ago. His response was very cross that the patient did not seem to be taking the problem seriously. It has stuck in my mind.

Pumpkin

[ilovemyoboe]

I'm 36 weeks and have had thrush fairly regularly since Christmas. A couple of weeks ago I asked my doctor about whether the baby could catch it during birth after seeing a leaflet with a grim picture of a baby's tongue with thrush. The doctor said that yes, it can happen, but it's not that common and I shouldn't worry about it. It's certainly no reason to have a C-section - the risks associated with a C-section are far more than with thrush. To put it in perspective, she said you're more likely to infect your baby with thrush by sucking on their dummy (if they drop it, say) and then giving it back to them than during birth as a large number of adults (50%? forgotten the number) have the thrush infection in their mouths with no symptoms.

Keep treating it as per the instructions, and talk to your midwife/doctor as gardenshrub said.