Some women become pregnant while they have an STD. Many people have questions as to what complications may arise when giving birth while infected with an STD. This section was created in attempt to answer some of these common questions.
Chlamydia
Women with chlamydia at the time of pregnancy run an increased risk of miscarriage. The newborn child may contract a severe eye infection (trachoma) or pneumonia. Both child and mother Chlamydia are treated with antibiotics. Chlamydia can get into the eyes if infected people touch their genitals and then their eyes.
Gonorrhea
A pregnant woman with has an increased chance of miscarriage or having a preterm baby. The child born to a woman who has gonorrhea can develop blindness, joint infections or even a life threatening infection. Mothers are given antibiotics to treat their gonorrhea and the newborns are given medicines to prevent a possible eye infection.
Hepatitis B
Mothers with hepatitis B have an increased risk of having a premature delivery and can transmit the infection to their child. Development of new medicines vaccines have been successful in helping prevent the transmission. Both the mother and the newborn are injected with antibodies to prevent infection.
Herpes
Herpes does not directly affect the child until birth. Active herpes lesions can infect the baby as it passes out of the vagina during birth. Women can take anti-viral pills to prevent transmission; they may be encouraged to deliver their child by C-section.
HIV/AIDS
There is a risk that the mother can pass HIV to her newborn child, but development of new drugs has been very successful in preventing transmission.
HPV (Genital Warts)
Sometimes the medicines that pregnant women receive can make the warts on the vagina grow larger, if she is infected with HPV. If the warts are left untreated, they may become large enough to block the baby from passing out of the vagina. If this happens, the best way to deliver the baby is to deliver the baby by C-section. Also, treatment of the mother's warts may be delayed until after the child is born.
Syphilis
Syphilis is easily transmitted from mother to child and can be fatal. Syphilis may lead to premature childbirth. Children who survive the birth and are left untreated may have problems in the brain, eyes, heart, ears, skin and bones. Doctors treat the mother for to prevent the transmission.
Trichomoniasis
Mothers with trichomoniasis have a higher chance of giving birth preterm. The child can contract the infection and have a fever after birth. Medication is given to the mother and child to cure the infection.
© - Reproduced with permission of SexInfo, University of California at Santa Barbara, 2007.