Here the midwives just get you to pee on the test strips then you report the findings yourself.... saves pee pots and subsequently money and the world
So I spent last night reading and reading and reading and found ALOT of conflicting information. There's tons and tons of info on contrating varicella in pregnancy but surprisingly little on the impact of shingles on pregnancy. Apparently, it's a rare occurance..... But generally speaking shingles is definitly not as much of a concern as contacting chicken pox which I knew and generally speaking getting it in pregnancy is not much of a concern at all except there seems to be alot of question as to whether or not that is true if it occurs near the time of delivery (which is problematic as I'm 39 weeks tomorrow!). In utero there seems to be no problem at all... But once baby is out, then the risk to baby supposedly increases substantially. So that's where the conflicting info comes into play. Some sources are saying that risk is negligable and only interventions if signs of neonatal infection present is indicated. Other sources are saying that the risk of neonatal varicella is 30-40% when the shingles is present at the time of delivery and that the newborn should be vaccinated within 72 hours of the birth. Other sources say that the infant should only be vaccinated if the shingles outbreak occured less than 5 days prior to delivery. Other sources state 10 days. Some sources are also recommended baby be seperated from the mother until the shingles are healed
Others thank goodness, strongly oppose this practice.
As for my day.... Went to the walk in clinic this morning (oh the joys of no longer having a family GP....) and the doctor (whom I greatly despised) agreed that he thought that my rash was shingles but that because I was pregnant there was nothing he could prescribe me and that all I should do is put calamine lotion on it or baking soda and water.
Went home and paged my midwife to update her on the situation. She was not to pleased that the doctor did not prescribe an anti-viral medication and told me to go to the ER to speak to the doctor there (prescribing anti-virals is not within midwifery scope of practice....). So I went there and the ER physician was not 100% convicned it was shingles. Said it was definitly a possibility but the rash more so resembled HSV I(apparently getting it on locations other than the mouth is becoming more common) or that it could also be a bacterial skin infection of hair follicles or sweat glands. She did a swab (which won't be back for 3 weeks) and said that she thought I should receive an anti-viral just incase and baby should be vaccinated following the birth should I still have the blisters present, however she wanted a second/third opinion so she paged the OB/Gyn to come see me. The OB came (it was the one I didn't like when I was in my L&D student placements because he was very cold and lacked social skills but he was pleasantly nice and giddy when he came in to see me). He said that he was pretty sure it was shingles and prescribed me Valtrex... I'm more familiar with using acyclovir in pregnancy, but he said he preferred to prescribe Valtrax and it would be more effective yadda yadda yadda so that's what I got. He then went on to complain about the first doctors incompetence and that he was not impressed that they had to call him in for this matter
Then he stated that this would in no way effect baby and vaccination would not be required following delivery.
Called my midwife to update her and she said that the guidelines she has read clearly states that should the rash still be present at the time of delivery it is highly recommended that baby be vaccinated within 72 hours of the birth. She's still perfectly fine with me having a homebirth (as there really isn't any good reason not to) though she doesn't think having a waterbirth would be a good idea. Right now the affected area is relatively small (approximately 1inch by 2inches) and could easily be covered by a tagaderm but as it stands now her 'recommendations' are no water birth until more information is gathered regarding this issue.....
I have to admit while I'm not anti-vaccine, there are a few vaccines out there that I'm not in favour of and varicella is one of them.... However, if there truly is an increased risk of 30-40% increased chance of neonatal varicella perhaps the vaccine would have some merit
As even though the mortality rate is much less then congenital varicella, neonatal varicella can still be quite a severe and unpleasant thing to deal with.... I just really need more info before I agree to injecting such a little baby with an immunization because right now the information I've been reading has been quite sketchy.....
So off I go... Hopefully I'll find some adequate studies to lead me in the right direction cause right now I'm very
and quite painful at times. I found lots of cold damp cloths helped sooth the pain and paracetamol. And stay away from others who haven't had chicken pox, especially pregnant women. But if they've had the pox then your not contagious to them 
One day they will be gone though...
only not only can I not see but I can't hover anymore either 
so lovely to leave them feedin well and feeling positive.
