Chicken pox while you are pregnant?

These days, chicken pox is just another childhood disease that can be vaccinated against, at least in the United States. Most adults have had chicken pox as children, and many children have received the chicken pox vaccine. As many as 95 percent of the adult population has immunity, and can therefore not get chicken pox again. But if you do end up with this disease while you are pregnant, what are the risks?

Most pregnant women who contract chicken pox end up with totally babies. But there is a small chance that the fetus will become infected with something called congenital varicella syndrome. Varicella is, of course, the medical term for chicken pox. The chances of a baby contracting this disease are highest if the mother gets chicken pox between 13 and weeks weeks gestation. It can result in vision problems, small fetal head, anomalies of the arms and legs, and skin abnormalities. CVS also increases the risk of miscarriage a little. All in all, the chances of the baby being adversely affected by chicken pox do not exceed two percent according to studies into the subject. If you never had chicken pox as a child, or think you did not, you do have options.

Before you start trying to conceive, you can get your titres checked. This is a lab test that will show whether or not you are immune to a whole host of childhood diseases, including chicken pox, measles, rubella, and others. If the test shows you are not immune, you can choose to get vaccinated for chicken pox so that you cannot contract it in pregnancy. Once you are already pregnant, the chicken pox vaccine is contraindicated. Also look at flu during pregnancy and migraines in pregnancy.