18 weeks pregnant and caught chicken pox

[mamandetitou]

Has anyone caught chicken pox in the first 20 weeks and how did it go for the baby? i never had chicken pox as achild and didn't know i had been in contact with it so when i caught it it was too lete to do anything.i am now waiting for a detailed scan in 4 weeks to see if the baby has been affected. really worried and wanted to hear similar stories. thanks in advance for sharing your stories.

I thought it was most dangerous in the last trimester. Hope everything's ok for you!

In the first trimester there is a 2% chance that the baby catches congenital varicella symptomes ,like scarring,shortness of limb ,blindness,small head and retardation.i know i should be positive and think mine would be in the 98% ok but i can't halp worrying. thank you for your message.

nothing will stop you worrying but I did quite a bit of googling on this as my neice got CP just after xmas when I was about the same stage as you. I couldnt find any evidence of a high risk at this stage all worry was concentrated around the 1st trimester or around the few weeks prior to birth.

I had cpox at 36+ and gave birth just over a week later at 37+ Thankfully we were both fine and didn't even transfer in to hospital (midwife came more frequently for the first few days to keep an eye out for us).

Any kind of illness that can affect the baby is worrying - I've been there twice now (cpox and parvo). But you are booked in for a scan and I am sure you will feel much better about it when you've had the results. And as heverhoney says, at 18-20 weeks you are past the most risky time, so keeping my fingers crossed for you x

Hi - my wife had chickenpox when pregnant - caught at 5 weeks. She was originally told to consider a termination by a silly GP. We finally got access to a very pragmatic consultant who reassured us the risk of infection to the baby was minimal. She was scanned regularly throughout the pregnancy and we were reassured at each scan - never could totally relax though and just were glad when the experience was over, so I do really understand what you're going through.

However, if it's any comfort to you, we now have a very healthy and happy girl. She is 18 months now and shows no signs of being affected. Trust the scans and try and get access to a consultant who reassures you. Oh - and don't read stuff on the internet - we did and it just scared the shit out of us.

WOuld love to know how you get on

The risk at the stage you are is very small - it does go up the more pregnant you are but only becuase the nearer you are to delivering, the "greater" the chance of your newborn catching it, but still very small.

According to the NHS website, of all the women who get chickenpox while pregnant, less than 1% of babies are affected.

I have a friend in the same situation at the moment, hence I have been helping her with research!

I am sure all will be well for you, and that you recover quickly.

hi i got chicken pox when i was 18 weeks pregnant.
i have had loads off scans and have had good results back from them.
its been a massive worry to be honest and still is! Even tho they have said my baby is fine and no problems detected.
i have 6 weeks to go, until he is due. So fingers crossed for us.
just been reading some comments on here which helps a bit with the worrying.
thanks

So, was your baby born healthy then? This is an old thread, I know, but today I am sitting in the very same boat and need to know how things went. I am 20 weeks pregnant, with chicken pox, which means I got infected around 18 weeks. Bad, bad luck for me. Let me know.

Hi, I was wondering how everything went for you and the baby. I am in the same situation just 17 weeks pregnant and waiting for the chickenpox symptoms currently ...