Maternal Diseases

 

Illnesses that affect the mother during her pregnancy can often affect her unborn child. There are viruses that travel through the umbilical cord, causing damage to the embryo, such as German Measles or Chicken Pox. Toxoplasmosis is an usually-asymptomatic, parasitic infection, often carried by household cats. Pregnant women are discouraged from changing litter, because their immune systems may be compromised, putting them at risk from the parasite, and their embryos may be vulnerable to brain swelling and spinal deformities.

 

HIV can transfer to a fetus through the placenta or during birth. Many other sexually transmitted diseases are known teratogens also. Syphilis acts against brain development during the last 26 weeks of the pregnancy. Genital herpes is passed to the baby during a vaginal birth, causing blindness, brain damage and even death in over half of the infected babies. Gonorrhea contracted during birth can cause blindness in the infant. Cytomegalovirus can cause deafness, central nervous system damage and mental retardation.

 

This list is not exhaustive. Cancer in the mother can cause tumors in the fetus she is carrying. Chlamydia can cause conjunctivitis and pneumonia. It's important for a pregnant woman to discuss her entire medical history with her obstetrician, so that she can work with him or her on a plan to protect her unborn child.