Cold Sore

[GastonsWife]

I've just had a huge cold sore come up! I'm 39 weeks pregnant and just read this:
CMV is a common virus that is one of the herpes group of viruses, which can also cause cold sores and chickenpox. Infection can be dangerous during pregnancy, as it can cause problems for unborn babies, such as hearing loss, visual impairment or blindness, learning difficulties and epilepsy.
What do I do!?

Have you had cold sores before or is it the first outbreak?
Call your midwife for advice.

I get them all the time but this is my first one during pregnancy.

Cold sores are localised so can't affect the baby when you're pregnant. You can use aciclovir/Zovirax cream in pregnancy and I find that tea tree oil on a tissue and held against the cold sore every hour or two really helps clear it up.

You do need to be careful if you get one after baby is born though, although I think if you've had them before that the baby might have got some immunity to them from you through the placenta. If that happens, you can use the same treatments as above and also use the clear plastic plasters that cover the cold sore, and no kissing baby! I got one when my baby was only a couple of days old as I was so run down after the birth, and was panicking about it, but the medics weren't too concerned, and baby was fine and it cleared up with the treatments above.

If you are prone to getting them, I'd pack a few treatments in your hospital bag so you can treat it quickly if you get one, especially if you're like me and prone to getting them when you're exhausted and run down.