Infections That Can Occur During Pregnancy
Growing a life inside your body, while miraculous, pregnancy also puts your health at higher risk. While most women experience a healthy pregnancy , your immune system doesn't function as well as it normally does, so you're more likely to get sick and contract infections. Infections may not be life-threatening for Mom but can cause problems for the baby if you leave them untreated. There are three major kinds of infections that put babies at risk: congenital, perinatal, and postnatal. Congenital infections are one that passes through the placenta from mom to baby. These kinds of infections include everything from the herpes simplex virus to rubella to listeria. You can do a thorough screening if you're concerned about any of these. Many of them can be treated, and your doctor will need to know if any are present in Mom to help prevent passing on the infection during labor. Perinatal infections transfer during labor and are mostly limited to STDs. Postnatal infections can b