GENITAL HERPES: PREVENTION. PREGNANCY
Women’s HealthAs already mentioned, it may not always be obvious to the ‘spreader’ of this bug that they are putting their sexual partner at risk. However, having a history of coldsores, on the face or the bottom, should be a reason for being a bit more cautious. Avoiding sexual contact when there is an active, obvious coldsore—no matter where it is, or how small and insignificant it seems—is very important, because this is the time at which most of the virus particles are shed.
Condoms may help to protect couples to some extent, for example if one partner has a history of genital herpes, but no active lesions. However, they may not give adequate protection if there is an obvious sore which will be shedding virus particles, and should not be relied upon in that particular instance.
Pregnancy. One of the concerns many of my newly diagnosed herpes patients express is about childbirth. They have heard that if you have ever had genital herpes you are automatically a candidate for a caesarian section (operative) delivery. While this may have been the case in the past, the tendency these days is for the decision about the mode of delivery (‘normal’—meaning vaginal—or operative) to be made closer to the actual due date. It is important for a woman ‘.o tell the practitioner she is attending for her pregnancy if she has had herpes in the past, or if her sexual partner has. It is possible to check for evidence of virus shedding or sores in late pregnancy. A baby passing through an infected vagina runs a small risk (about 10 per cent for a recurrent attack) of becoming infected. However, many women are likely to have no obvious virus shedding at the time of delivery, and a vaginal delivery is usually a safe option for mother and baby. Herpes does not affect a person’s ability to get pregnant.
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