chickenpox

[squirmyworm]

HI there - birthday party today and we've got a 3 year old who may/may not be incubating chicken pox. I recall from somewhere that c'pox may be semi dangerous for pregnant women somewhere along the way - anyone have any more detail? just want to be able to warn...

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If his contact with the infection was 10-20 days ago then child could be contagious. If less you should be ok. Have to say I kept ds out of circulation when we ran into that period as it was holiday season and I knew some of the mums I was likely to meet were ttc. Ironically he did not catch it that time.

Details here

Chickenpox can be very serious in pregnant women. Most (90%?) of the population are immune to chickenpox as they had it as children, but not all so it is important to warn people. I for one wasn't immune (and I actually had the chickenpox vaccine before ttc because I had read how severe it could be).

In the first trimester, chickenpox can cause fetal abnormalities and if caught up to 7 days before birth there is a chance the baby can catch a very severe form of chickenpox. The mother at any stage of pregnancy is at a much higher risk of complications particularly in connection with their lungs.

Chickenpox is mostly assumed to be a fairly benign illness, but it really isn't if you're an adult and pregnant! Hope this helps.

I had chickenpox when pregnant with ds1. I was 30 weeks and was told that its particularly dangerous if mum is infectious at the time of delivery - baby can get a type of viral pneumonia which can be life threatening. I was given antibody injection to try to increase my immunity and prevent a bad attack (didn't work ). I bf ds1 and he eventually caught cp at 5 from ds2

incubation period is 7 - 21 days, contagious up to three days prior to spots appearing - no longer contagious when all spots are scabbed over. ( can tell I have just been through this with dd ) was told to avoid pregnant women.

hope that helps.

even had doc wanting me to have vaccination as I was unsure whether I had had it as a child or not.

Wow eidsvold you were lucky - I had to fight tooth and nail to get my vaccination