chickenpox and newborn - panicing!!

[rydercup]

Hello - another chickenpox thread I hear you cry! Chickenpox is rife at DS nursery at the moment! I am having a new baby in 2 weeks (planned C-section) and cannot help but feel myself panicing about DS getting it just as the new baby enters the household. Anybody had experience of this or got know what the score is if a newborn catches it? Is there some level of immunity if I am breastfeeding etc etc?

[happymerryberries]

New born should have some protection from you, especialy if you are bf.

ds got it at 3 months. He started out with lots and lots of spots but most of them faded away without coming to a head....my immunity I suppose. He ended up with abou 12 'proper' spots and was fine.

Hope that all is OK and try not to worry

[rydercup]

Thanks - already starting to breathe better!

[happymerryberries]

Oh and just to make it even better. AlthoughI breast fed, by that time he was partly on the bottle as I had dreadul supply probelms. Probaby why he got it at all to think of it. Jimjams is the person with this info

[Jimjams]

have you had it? If you have he'll have passive immunity from you whether you bfeed or not. DS1 got it when ds2 was 8 months- ds1's paed said ds2 may get it as immunity usually last 6-12 months. He didn't.

[Snugs]

If in doubt, speak to your GP or midwife about the availabilty of varicella zoster immunoglobulin. If they think there is a high enough risk, in view of how close you are to your due date, they can arrange for a dose to be available for the new baby at birth.

Newborns are at the highest risk from chicken pox - but the immunoglobulin is readily available (I used to have to dole it out to maternity wards when I worked for Public Health).

[rydercup]

Hi - yes have had it and will mention to the midwife when I see her next week. Thanks ladies for your prompt responses.

[LIZS]

sil exposed her daughter to it quite deliberately just before she was due and then she came out with it when her ds was a week or so. He didn't catch it and was bottlefed.

[llkjj]

I know a baby who had it at 2 weeks old. I don't know how he was fed, but he wasn't harmed by having cp. Main thing to watch for is high fever.

[PrettyCandles]

But be warned - babies who catch it so early do not develop immunity, so may get it again. I'm not 100% certain though.

[Punnet]

there is some immunity from breastfeeding, but theres no guarantees. My ds3 had at at three months, and as he only weighed 8lb it was a concern, but he was never anything like as ill as the other two so I guess really it was a bonus long term- though Dr says he might not retain his immunity.

temperature was biggest problem as chickenpox can be high, you will need to chat to dr about that as too young for calpol.

Do remember when I had ds1 there was a lady in the ward not allowed home as her dd1 had chickenpox.

[jenkel]

Last summer one of my friends little boy had chicken pox just as his mum was about to give birth. The 2 year old had chickenpox quite badly, she breastfed her baby and he developed chickenpox when he was 1 week old, though no way near as severe as his brother. I understand and so did the mum (who is a paedatric nurse) that antibdies are in the baby from the mother, so perhaps thats why the baby did have chicken pox but not so severe. I think the younger you are the better, my 2 1/2 year old had it and scratched something terrible and my 6 month old had it, same amount of spots and didnt seem that bothered, but obviously 6 months is a bit older than a newborn.

[psychomum5]

Go and get checked and make sure you are immune. If you are then all should be ok, but if not then they will want to vaccinate you.

My DD2 had chicken pox so badly she ended up in hospital just 12dys before DD3 was due. I said I hadn't had it and so they tested me. They phoned the childrens ward where we were within 5hrs to say I needed to go to maternity asap...which I did. They gave me 4 v. painful jabs, and hoped all would be fine. 2wks later, and a bad fall on my behalf, we had DD3 as DD1 came down with the pox.
Sadly the jabs had no effect on me or her, for whatever reason, and so we both got admitted to the childrens ward for treatment, when DD3 was not yet a week old. (it was too dangerous to stay in the maternity hosp.!)
It actually left DD3 with an immune deficiancy, but then things could have been so much worse, according to the paeds, so I am so glad I had those jabs, and that they reacted so quickly when it was apparent we still caught it.

Having said that tho.....no vaccine is 100% protective, but if it doesn't cover completely, the protection you do get is still 100% better than the actual illness, and will still stop you getting that particular illness as badly as you might have done anyway!!

[KathH]

My dd1 and dd2 both thoughtfully went down with chickenpox 2 wks before i was due to have ds1. I was immune to it tho. I'd speak to your mw.