cold sore panic!

[welsh]

I'm 40wks+5 days and had a false alarm of labour last night. Finally got back to sleep this morning and woke up with a cold sore!

I've had them for as long as I can remember but only had one other during this pregnancy.

Presumably, if I meet my baby before it clears up, I'm not going to be able to kiss her.
Bad enough.
I read an article online that said something about needing a c/s to prevent hermes transmission! Unlikely that they do that in the UK though....
FWIW, I've never had genital herpes.

Any info or experience Mamas?

[bella99]

Well, if you don't have genital herpes, then you don't need to worry about transmission during delivery.

I get cold sores, and I had two during my pregnancy with my daughter, but early on.

But I also had them during her first year, and while I avoided kissing her, I am sure some contact got transferred.

The good thing is that only something like 1 in 5 people is actually susceptible to the virus. I've gotten cold sores since I was 5 or 6, and I've been with my husband for 10 years, and he's never gotten them. Even though we are careful when I have one about kissing and such, we aren't all THAT careful.

If it's still there when she's born, either wait a few days until it clears up, or make sure to kiss her without the blister making contact.

[WifeofAnt]

I think its *most* dangerous if you get your first outbreak near delivery. If you've had them for quite a while you're already delivering some antibodies to her and will continue while you're nursing.