Infections during Pregnancy

 
A woman is still vulnerable to infections even though she is pregnant. However, the health of her baby is also of concern now. While a woman's immune system responds the same to infection regardless of whether she is pregnant or not, the immune system of a fetus is not able to handle infection.

Women may suffer from asymptomatic bacteriuria, a condition in which bacteria is present in the urine even though pregnant women have no symptoms. The treatment for this disorder involves the use of antibiotics that are safe for use during pregnancy. Treatment can reduce the risk of the mother developing kidney or bladder infections by 50 percent. Without antibiotic treatment, 1-3% of pregnant women will become ill with a kidney or bladder infection during their pregnancy.

Most women have already had chickenpox before they reach childbearing age. However, if a pregnant woman does catch chickenpox, the harm to her fetus depends on how long she has been pregnant. If caught within the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, chickenpox can cause birth defects in 1. 5-2% of babies. If a mother acquires the infection in the later stages of pregnancy and it is present during delivery, it can cause a critical infection in the baby. This can be averted by treating the baby with varicella-zoster immune globulin after it is born.

The rubella virus can cause miscarriage or birth defects if it infects the mother in the early months of pregnancy. Eighty percent of women who catch rubella in the first trimester will either miscarry or have a baby with congenital birth defects. The disease cannot be treated but it can be prevented by vaccination.

Group B Streptococcus, known as beta strep, is a bacterium that normally resides in adult bodies. While this strain of bacteria usually causes no symptoms in the mother, it can make newborn babies very sick. The bacteria can infect babies as they pass through the birth canal during delivery. Despite being a rare occurrence - affecting 2/1000 births - it is however, very serious. Even as some risk factors are known, physicians cannot accurately predict which babies will develop the infection. Preventive treatment thus must be applied to a large number of prospective mothers who may not need it. While the side-effects of this treatment are insignificant, the growth of antibiotic resistant bacterial colonies is always of concern.

Toxoplasmosis refers to an infection caused by a parasite known as toxoplasma gondii. It is caught by eating the parasite that is found in raw or undercooked food or cat feces. The mother cannot catch toxoplasmosis by petting her cat, only by ingesting tiny particles of its feces. For this reason, the mother should let her partner or someone else clean her cat's litter box during her pregnancy. If she must do it, she should wear gloves and a face mask and wash her hands thoroughly after the emptying the box. While this illness resembles the flu in healthy adults, if caught during pregnancy it can cause serious fetal birth defects, including a smaller head, developmental delays, possible liver problems and seizures.

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