Genital herpes in pregnancy

By Dr Joe Kabyemela, MD

Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted disease that produces a painful rash on the genitals and is caused by the herpes simplex virus. Once herpes infection is acquired, it is there for life.

Some people will have frequent recurrence of the painful genital lesions while others have long quiescent periods. Pregnancy does not appear to influence this pattern one way or the other.

The standard advice for pe Genital herpes in pregnancy ople with the primary disease is to avoid pregnancy at that time. For those with recurrent disease, this advice is pointless and symptoms are managed as they appear. The one significant impact this infection might have is its influence on mode of delivery.

If there are active genital lesions when the woman goes into labor, vaginal delivery is contra-indicated. Delivery will have to be via caesarean section. Herpes is discussed in more detail in the section on "Exposure to infection in pregnancy".

Itching in pregnancy

Itching is the most common skin complaint in pregnancy affecting one in six pregnant women.

The causes are many and varied and each case calls for careful evaluation by the doctor. The cause could be from a pre-existing skin condition; it could also be a manifestation of a condition affecting the liver, thyroid gland or other body systems, developing for the first time in pregnancy.

Itching could also be a result of skin conditions that develop in - and are specific to pregnancy. In this latter category, there is almost always a rash. It is discussed in more detail below.

Experts acknowledge that there are many cases of generalized itching in pregnancy which do not fit in any of these categories and whose causes therefore remain unknown.

Continues next page: Liver conditions causing itching

Active herpes lesions in the final weeks of pregnancy mean a vaginal delivery is unadvised. The risk to the baby will be unacceptably high .