What happens if you contract herpes when you conceive?

Q. If you get herpes and get pregnant in the same sexual encounter, what happens to the baby? Will it get herpes from being inside the uterus? or is herpes only spread to a baby during delivery?

A. If you contract herpes just before you got pregnant then herpes can cause some complications to the pregnancy. But herpes isn't usually passed while the baby is in the womb or by genetics. The risk occurs as the baby comes through the birth canal while the mother has a break out. If the mother has a genital break out while she delivers, there is a high risk of passing herpes to the baby as it comes through the birth canal.
Doctors usually prescribe antiviral medication a few weeks before you deliver to help prevent break outs so you can deliver naturally with very low risk of passing herpes to the baby. Herpes is very rarely passed to babies.


What happens if you have a herpes outbreak during pregnancy?
Q. What happens if you have a herpes outbreak during your pregnany? I am 26 weeks pregnant and had an outbreak. I had my first outbreak a couple months before I became pregnant. Is there any risks in getting an outbreak during pregnancy? And is it ok to take valtrex? My doctor told me to take 3 grams a day. Just looking for other people's experience on this.
Yes, it was my dear husband who gave it to me, but he only has the oral kind, I have the *other* kind.

A. it is fine to have an outbreak during pregnancy as long as you dont have one within a month of giving birth. then its too risky to pass on to the baby. you say that you husband has oral herpes and you have the "other" kind. you really probably both have the same strain, but oral herpes can pass to the genitals through oral sex and genital can pass to oral. but really, the strains are different. you likely have the same strain that your husband has on his month, just in a different area. that is a good thing, it is a milder strain and your outbreaks will occur less often and come even less often and be more mild as time passes.


With genital herpes, how can a man give his wife a baby without giving her herpes?
Q. I know herpes is spread when you have no signs as well as with signs.. but my question is, what methods can be used for couples with one partner infected ?
And if the 2nd partner later discovers she too has herpes, is unprotected sex ok or should precautions still be taken?

A. Wow. The amount of misinformation in these answers is stunning.

To start, herpes is spread through skin-to-skin contact. So his semen will NOT contain the virus.

Second, as long as the couple does not have intercourse when he has symptoms, the likelihood of transmitting the virus is not huge. It's not tiny, but it's not huge. If he takes an antiviral, like Valtrex, the percentage drops even more. A study of partners where one had herpes and the other did not showed a 2% transmission rate per year without Valtex, and less than 1% with Valtex.

Third, even if she did get herpes, she could still have a healthy baby. She might choose to have a cesearean to prevent transmission to the baby, but there are no horrible medical consequences if he gives her herpes. There is no reason to go for artificial insemination, for pete's sake!

Life is risk. And in my opinion, the risk of possibly giving her herpes is so GREATLY outweighed by the desire to have a baby that it isn't even a contest.

For more information on pregnancy and herpes transmission, including a hotline phone number where you can ask people difficult questions about herpes, check out the web site below. I've also included a link to the Valtrex study.


How do I prevent pregnancy scares?
Q. I know that this might sound like a trivial question, but there are so many pregnancy scares on Y! answers every day that I feel like having posted answers would benefit a lot of the users on here, especially the younger ones. So here we go:

What are the best ways to prevent a pregnancy scare?

What are some general tips and guidelines for those who
(1) are having full on sex or
(2) younger and mostly engage in non-penetrative activities and other kinds of sex play?

Thanks for participating!

A. dont ask questions.
that is the best way to prevent scares. everyone has horror stories. but what they dont tell you is that:
1) women have been giving birth for thousands of years and the majority of them have turned out ok.
and 2) the human body is pretty resilient. alot of scares in pregnancy can and often will correct themselves. just to everything you can to take care of yourself and stay as stress-free as posible..

for people having full on sex... there is no such thing as too much protection.
1. know your partner.
2. its ok to use the pill in conjunction with condoms. cover all your assets.

and for younger ppl... hey you can still catch certain diseases through other acts... herpes anyone?





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