Hand, foot and mouth risk in late pregnancy

[doceodocere]

So I'm 34 weeks today and my SIL has just let me know that my 2yo niece has this virus. They're arriving tomorrow to stay for a few days. I looked on NHS choices and there is a small worst case scenario risk to the baby, but I'm finding it hard to think objectively. Does anybody have any knowledge or experience they could tell me about?

I had hand foot and mouth when pregnant and it was agony. High temp/fever and vomiting for 24 hours until the blisters came out. You can't take any meds and paracetamol doesn't even touch the burning feeling that the blisters caused. I have no idea if it affects the baby and the risks there but i personally would stay clear if that's an option! Sorry!!

I had this recently. Not pregnant. It was horrifically painful. The ulcers were honestly one of the worst things I've experienced. I was dabbing DS's anbesol on my tongue as often as I could just to get a few moments respite. I would not expose myself to this at all, and if there is a risk when pregnant then even more reason to avoid, even if the risk to baby is tiny, it's bad enough to just get it yourself.

That said, most adults are immune - do your parents know if you had it already? I'm also not sure when the virus is infectious - could it be that she's no longer contagious?

I'm 26 weeks and have hand foot and mouth - caught from toddler DD! I asked the GP (also pregnant!) if I should worry when I took DD in, and she said it's not something to get anxious about.

I've found the mouth ulcers painful, but am taking paracetamol for that and otherwise feel fine. If your neice already has the symptoms then she's past the most contagious stage already anyway. Don't let her touch you with any burst blisters and you'll probably not catch it :)

My parents can't remember if I've had it, or if that was one of my siblings. I called maternity triage and the midwife was pretty relaxed, she advised to avoid sharing cutlery etc which I don't think I'd do anyway.

It does sound like it can be grim

She's had the blisters for 3 days, apparently

The NHS advice is very reassuring about HFM.

"HFMD is rare in healthy adults, so the risk of infection during pregnancy is also very low.
However, if you develop hand, foot and mouth disease:
during the first three months of pregnancy – in very rare cases, this may result in miscarriage due to the high temperature (fever) in the mother
shortly before you give birth – the infection can be passed on to your baby."

If you did catch it, you'd develop the rash within 3-5 days, and while you had the rash (about a week at most), you'd be contagious. You'd not expect to deliver in the next 12 days, so I wouldn't be overly concerned.

I actually caught HFM from my toddler when my littlest one was just a few weeks old. She did get a bit of a temperature for 48 hours and as a result she was monitored in hospital, but was completely fine.

It looks like the level of pain/severity of symptoms can vary quite a lot! Certainly it seemed to bother DD a lot more than it's bothering me, even though she can take ibuprofen as well as paracetamol, unlike me. Or maybe being more stoic than a 17-month-old isn't that impressive

Should say that I only realised that my 18mo had HFM when I spotted ulcers in my mouth and realised what it was. Neither of us were particularly unwell with it.

As others have said, I would avoid so that I didn't catch it, rather than because I was worried about the effect in pregnancy.

I caught it from DD a few years ago and I was horrendously ill for a week. DD was hospitalised because of the extremely high temp she developed (she was 7mo).

My friends partner has recently been diagnosed with this. She was around 34/35 weeks pregnant at the time. When she mentioned it to us she was extremely chilled and when I looked online (I was supposed to be meeting up with her and I'm 30 weeks pregnant) the NHS just says extremely low risk to unborn babies even if mothers are infected. I think this is one of those illnesses people catch without even getting a diagnosis. I wouldn't worry too much.