Shingles and pregnancy??

[foxylady123]

Just found out my FIL has shingles. I've had CP as a child and DD had them a few months back.

Haven't seen FIL for a while but were due to visit tomorrow.

I'm 9 weeks PG and was wondering if it's ok to see him and does it carry a risk of me or baby catching it?

DH got shingles when I was 39weeks pg with our 2nd child, our oldest hadn't had the pox at the time. Nurse advised him to keep the rash covered, separate towels, avoid direct contact etc.

If I was in your situation I would do the visit, but not get too up close and personal...

I wouldn't risk it to be honest, you are probably still immune but is it worth taking the chance? If you did catch it it can cause problems with the baby. I work in a hopsital and nurses are advised not to look after patients with cp or shingles. If i were you I would rearrange and see your fil in a couple of weeks time

Ring your midwife and check. If you can't get hold of midwife tomorrow morning the phone nhs direct for peace of mind whatever your decision. FIL had it while I was pregnant and we avoided going, but if I remember rightly I was told it was ok if it was on a covered area and there was no direct contact.

Thanks for all the advice. The nhs direct says it's ok but i think i'll rearrange, if anything did go wrong i'd blame that even if it wasn't.

my sis had shingles when I was pregnant with DC2. We were all due to be spending a family christmas together so we didnt really want to avoid all contact!!

To be safe, my sis put MASSIVE plaster & dressing over the site (was conveniently on her back, so covered by clothing too) and we were just extra careful with hand washing / not sharing towels etc etc.

Unlike chicken pox, which is spread from any body fluids (eg sneezing etc), shingles only spreads the virus from the actual shingles site - so if it is kept well covered you will be fine.

You can't catch shingles, you only get it if you have had chicken pox, its to do with a virus that lays dormant in your body and then at some time in your life may effect certain areas of your body, however I think that there is a small chance that you could get chicken pox from a person with shingles if you have not had chicken pox already.

I had shingles in my first pregnancy, not nice but there is no risk to baby. (My doc double checked this and gave me a call later to confirm i didn't need to worry)