giving birth with herpes

[emmma]

Hi.  So I am not planning on having children soon, but I worry a lot about transmitting the herpes virus to them while giving birth.  I have read that it is most likely to happen only if there are actual sores, but is getting a C-section no matter what recommended?  Does anyone have personal experience with this?

Thanks in advance.

[oldgal]

Hi emmma.  Yes, I have personal experience, albeit almost 30 years ago!  My gyno told me that it is okay to have a natural birth unless there is an outbreak at the time of delivery, in which case a c-section would be performed.  Something to do with danger related to the baby's eyes (I'm sure someone more knowledgeable on here will elaborate!).  As it happened, I was terrified of a natural birth and wanted to be knocked out(!).  Whether my anxiety was the cause I don't know, but I had nothing but outbreaks for weeks leading up to the due date, so they booked me in for a c-section anyway lol.

[chillybean]

Your doctor may just recommend a suppression antiviral during week 36 and on to help prevent breakouts. I am currently pregnant and have herpes, but have not had a vaginal outbreak. My doctor and I are planning on a natural, unmedicated labor labor and delivery, and so they will be giving me the suppressants just to be safe when I get close to my due date. 

There are also some great resources on http://pinktent.com on how to help manage your symptoms and outbreaks naturally by eating or avoiding specific foods during the weeks leading up to your delivery. Also, take L-Lysine as an additional supplement- it's amazing at keeping outbreaks at bay! And most importantly, don't stress too much about it. Stress is a huge trigger for outbreaks, and the more calm you can be, the better. Do some meditation or breathing exercises when you feel major stress coming on!

Here's a couple of statistics on herpes and pregnancy from the site I mentioned above http://pinktent.com/living-with-herpes/pregnancy/

[MissHope]

Hey there, I've delivered both my babies vaginally (I have GHSV) and they are just perfectly fine with no herpes related complications whatsoever (they are 2 & 4 now). 

I did take Valtrex as a suppressant for the last few weeks of pregnancy to ensure there were no outbreaks at the time of delivery which was under advice from my obstetrician. In fact he was in favour of avoiding a c-section as the benefits for vaginal birth outweigh unnecessary surgery and a longer recovery time. 

If you have any other questions, ask away!

[Elizabeth love]

Hi miss hope, curious how long you've had hsv 2. I've only had mine for about 6 months and am now 5 weeks pregnant. I have been careful to manage it since I've found out I'm pregnant about 2 weeks ago but I'm just paranoid since I'm a newer infected person. Although around birth it will have been about a year since the primary outbreak and got a few months before even becoming pregnant...helps to hear others successful experiences especially with natural birth. I had an amazing all natural birth with my daughter 3 years ago but I did not have herpes then. I am hoping I can re experience that with no negative blow back due to herpes 

Edited June 20, 2017 by Elizabeth love

[MissHope]

5 hours ago, Elizabeth love said:

Hi miss hope, curious how long you've had hsv 2. I've only had mine for about 6 months and am now 5 weeks pregnant. 

I've had it for around 10 years..... my oldest is 4 now so it was a good few years before I fell pregnant. 

I'm sure you will be fine - and remember you will pass antibodies on to baby which is of help. 

I wish you all the very best for the delivery..... I was induced both times with mine (I wanted it to happen spontaneously but my boys had other ideas) and even still it was amazing! 

Good luck x

[kaylarie]

I had 3 vaginal deliveries since being diagnosed. The first one was actually the pregnancy I got herpes, so I was on an antiviral til the day I delivered. But my OB reassured me that as long as I was taking antivirals the last month of my pregnancy that I would be totally fine to deliver vaginally. When you go to labor and delivery, they do ask about it and ask whether you've had any recent outbreaks and then they also do a quick check for any signs. My OB said it was highly unlikely to need a c section and he wouldn't recommend it unless medically necessary and to not go in thinking that I would need one. 

[Ina]

On 18/05/2017 at 11:50 AM, MissHope said:

Hey there, I've delivered both my babies vaginally (I have GHSV) and they are just perfectly fine with no herpes related complications whatsoever (they are 2 & 4 now). 

I did take Valtrex as a suppressant for the last few weeks of pregnancy to ensure there were no outbreaks at the time of delivery which was under advice from my obstetrician. In fact he was in favour of avoiding a c-section as the benefits for vaginal birth outweigh unnecessary surgery and a longer recovery time. 

If you have any other questions, ask