There are cases where pregnant women are infected with sexually transmitted diseases during pregnancy. This not only affects the mother but also the baby that is still unborn.
According to Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, STD can cause complication in women's pregnancy. The effects can be very serious and can hardly be treated once the child is infected with the virus causing the disease.
Here are the top 5 sexually transmitted diseases and how these can affect the mother and baby.
1. HIV/AIDS
The human immunodeficiency virus weakens the infected person's immune system making them susceptible and unable to recover from infection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated a total of 540,000 infections every year with HIV and one-fourth of the total infected people are women. The baby can be infected with the virus with the same symptoms where they can hardly fight infection and may lead to death.
2. Gonorrhea
It is one of the common STDs where the infected mother will experience pain in urination, vaginal discharge and fever. If left untreated, this can lead to miscarriage. If the baby is born while the mother is infected, the child may have an eye infection that can cause blindness.
3. Syphilis
It can cause cancer on the cervix, vagina, anus, rectum and sometimes may reach the breast and nipples. This can also lead to organ damage. Babies are often born premature while the mother is infected. Babies will have a high risk of developing organ problems.
4. Hepatitis B and C
Hepatitis B and C virus are both incurable liver infections. The person affected will get flu-like symptoms, jaundice and fatigue. Babies can be infected with this virus even when they are still unborn. The only difference between this two Hepatitis viruses is the HBV has a vaccine to protect babies from infection.
5. Genital Herpes
Its symptoms are lesions and sores that may develop around the vagina and the cervix. The virus causing the infection can only be passed on to babies when they are born. If the infection is serious, the baby can possibly get the virus causing infection on eyes, skin and the central nervous system which is very dangerous that may lead to infant death. However, there is a way to prevent child infection and that would be a delivery through C-section.
