Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Can I have a vaginal delivery if I have an STD?

Sexually Transmitted Diseases And Pregnancy
Even though you are pregnant, you can still become infected with a sexually transmitted disease. Pregnancy does not offer you or your baby protection from sexually transmitted diseases. If a prenant woman becomes infected with an STD while pregnant, it can be life threatening to both the mother and the unborn baby. It is important that all pregnant women are tested for STS's while pregnant. The list of sexually transmitted diseases continues to grow and it is imperitive that women understand the harmful effects they can cause.

Pregnant women have the same risks involved with an STD. Sexually transmitted diseases can cause cervical cancer and other types of cancers, hepatitis, cirrhosis and other complications. Many of the diseases can be present without even knowing they exist. Pregnant women who suffer from STDs are more likely to experience the early onset of labor, premature rupture of the membranes surrounding the baby in the uterus, and uterine infection after delivery.

A pregnant woman can pass a sexually transmitted disease to the fetus, newborn, or infant before, during, or after birth. There is absolutely no protection for the developing baby. Some STDs (like syphilis) cross the placenta and infect the fetus during its development. Other STDs (like gonorrhea, chlamydia, hepatitis B, and genital herpes) are transmitted from the mother to the infant as the infant passes through the birth canal. HIV infection can cross the placenta during pregnancy, infect the newborn during the birth process, and, unlike other STDs, infect an infant as a result of breast-feeding. Harmful effects on the baby may include stillbirth, low birth weight, conjunctivitis (eye infection), pneumonia, neonatal sepsis (infection in the blood stream), neurologic damage (such as brain damage or motor disorder), congenital abnormalities (including blindness, deafness, or other organ damage), acute hepatitis, meningitis, chronic liver disease, and cirrhosis. Some of these consequences may be noticed at birth while others may not be found until months or even years later.

Some STDs are quite common among pregnant women. The most common are genital herpes and bacterial vaginosis. HIV and syphilis are much less common in pregnant women.

STDs	Estimated Number of Pregnant Women
Bacterial vaginosis	800,000
Herpes simplex	800,000
Chlamydia	200,000
Trichomoniasis	80,000
Gonorrhea	40,000
Hepatitis B	40,000
HIV	8,000
Syphilis	8,000

STDs affect women of every socioeconomic and educational level, age, race, ethnicity, and religion. The CDC recommends that pregnant women be screened for the following STDs:

Chlamydia
Gonorrhea
Hepatitis B
HIV
Syphilis

Pregnant women should request these tests specifically because some doctors do not routinely perform them. New and increasingly accurate tests continue to become available. Even if a woman has been tested in the past, she should be tested again when she becomes pregnant.

Some STD's are cureable and others are not. Speak with your doctor if you believe you have an STD. If possible, your healthcare provider can treat your symptoms. Bacterial STDs (like chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis) can be treated and cured with antibiotics during pregnancy. There is no cure for viral STDs such as genital herpes and HIV, but antiviral medication for herpes and HIV may reduce symptoms in the pregnant woman. In addition, the risk of passing HIV infection from mother to baby is dramatically reduced by treatment. For women who have active genital herpes lesions at the time of delivery, a cesarean section may be performed to protect the newborn against infection. Although a woman may be monogamous during her pregnancy, she can remain at risk of STDs if her partner is not monogamous. For this reason, she may want to consider consistent and correct use of latex condoms for every act of intercourse. Protection is critical throughout a woman`s pregnancy, including the last trimester when active infection can present a great threat to the health of a woman and her baby.

Comments: Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Comments 1 to 8 of about 8.

ms.tosh216 - 140 days ago.
IT HAPPENED TO ME B4 SO DONT WORRY JUST LET THEM TEST YOU AGAIN.

*dcsfantasticfour - 157 days ago.
Alright ladies IM EFFING LIVID!!!!! My dr called me and told me I tested positive for Chlamydia!!!! I HAVE NEVER CHEATED ON MY HUBBY EVER!!!! I fully trust my husband and truely believe that he never cheated on me but he totally freaked out on me and doesn't believe I never cheated on him. So he took of and got super drunk and left me at the house literally screaming and crying because I KNOW I didn't do anything wrong.... I honestly think that the clinic made a HORRIBLE mistake and its literally ruining my life. I cant call the DR back till tuesday because of Labor Day weekend, so as of now there are major problems in my relationship. I need help!!! PLEASE has this happened to any of you??? Ive read about how sometimes the chlamydia test can give a fale positive... I honestly think the clinic told me the results of someone else because at first the nurse (who told me on the phone) had me mistaken for someone else. But of course my husband dosen't believe me. Im so depressed and just heartbroken because no matter what I do my husband wont believe me and I have nobody (family are all out of state) and his family is taking his side of course

smurfwxmama - 330 days ago.
So...turns out it was Lyme Disease and not Syphillus, bout beat his ass when he told me that, I mean seriously who lets doctor run a test if you know it's negative, what kind of message does that send...he's lucky I don't go get a bunch more ticks and stick them on him!! And I've never even seen a tick over here in the UK, much less in my own house!

ParkerNHarpersMom - 331 days ago.
yikes! I would be so angry if I was being blamed for giving my bf something I KNOW I didn't. good luck!

smurfwxmama - 343 days ago.
OK so I'm pissed, so much so I've been crying off and on the last 2 hrs....hubby's doc seems to think he has syphillus and he says he would have got it from me, um hello just had a damn baby u think I would be with anyone else, and hello all the tests they do anyways! Then come to find out I called my doc and the one test they didn't have record of was that damn test! So pissed grr! I've never been with anyone since i met my husband, he's admitted to messing around with other girls since we got married and he says it's me...um yeah whatever, I just want to go home and cry myself to sleep but have kiddo's tao take care of....if my test comes back anything other than negative I'm gonna be beating someone's ass!

little1.com - 434 days ago.
well i wasnt asked but i no they did test me for hiv/syphalis ect so maybe they did test that? some one told me it tests for anything bacterial and most stds are bacterial ? and everything came back ok ? x

aprilraine - 434 days ago.
little1- I don't know if they test the pee test, but when you get bloodwork done at the beginning they usually ask if you would like to be tested for anything

little1.com - 434 days ago.
hi sorry if this is a thicko question but...is the pee test (bacterial check) the test they do to check for all these? x