my son has chicken pox!

[emma608]

I've heard it's dangerous for pregnant woman to be around anyone that has chicken pox and now my son has them. What do I do?

 

[SweetV]

Have you had chicken pox before? If so you have less of a chance of the virus affecting you currently. If not I would contact a health care provider. Chicken pox is contagious up to 2 weeks before symptoms appear which means that if you were going to contract it you probably already have.

 

[emma608]

I have no idea if I've had it before

 

[emma608]

Do I have to catch the chicken pox for it to harm my unborn baby or can it do harm just by me being around it x

 

[Jessicahide]

Its only very dangerous if you have not had it and in your third trimester, if you are concerned call your doc xxx I am sure you will be fine x

 

[MemmaJ]

If you have had it before, it's fine as you're immune to it once you've had it.
If you're not sure if you've had it, you need to go to your GP/Doctor and they can do a blood test to see if you're immune to it.

 

[WW1]

There is chicken pox going round in DDs class so I asked the mw what to do. She said if you are directly in contact, give them a call as they can do a blood test to check immunity. If immunity is low then there is a vaccine they can give. Most people who've had chicken pox in the past will be fine but it's not always the case so worth getting it checked.

 

[klsltsp]

This happened to me with my last pregnancy.

There is only an issue once your son shows spots.

Call your doc/midwife to check your immunity. They say that 99% of people are immune, that even if they don't think that they had the chickenpox that they were exposed and have the antibodies.

I happen to NOT have the antibodies, so if either of my children develop spots, I am to go to the hospital within 96 hours to get a shot. My doc explained to me that the risks are very low..but the concerns are serious enough... hope that helps.