hand,foot,mouth disease/pregnancy

[hvl25]

Hope its ok i jump in here real quick. i am not pregnant but my sisters sil is, due jan 1. my 5yo has hfm disease and she has told my sister that her ob said not to be anywhere around someone that has it or anyone that has been around anyone that has it and that if she wouldn't have know she was being exposed then found out she was, he would have told her not to worry :eyesroll does anyone know anything about this. what she said doesn't make sense.

[Marysmama]

My SIL recently contracted the coxsackie virus that causes hand/foot/mouth disease.

I called my ob and pediatrician and they both said pg women should stay far away from anyone who has, or may have been around someone who has/had it.

From time of exposure there is a 4-6 day incubation period, then there is a 2 week contagious period. Your SIL needs to stay away from you, your dd, anyone in your family that has had contact with your child for at least this amount of time.

The problem with coxsackie is that it is asymptomatic in most people, yet they can still pass it on. So people don't even know they have it, yet they can still give to others.

From what I've read, there is no really hard evidence on how it affects pregnant moms and their unborn babies. However, I've read things ranging from miscarriage to wierd developmental delays.

The reason her ob said she would have told her not to worry about it, is because there is nothing you can do about it. And many moms and their babies are just fine. Like I said, there is some evidence that some aren't fine, but it's not concrete. I think docs just want moms to take every precaution to avoid people with known viruses.

On a good note, my friend had coxsackie when she was pg with her first. That baby is three now and is wonderfully healthy and smart. Like I said, docs don't really know how it can affect a baby so they just want moms to be extra careful.

I hope this helps. And tell your SIL not to worry.

[kinsey43]

What??? DS had HFM disease when I was about 12 weeks along. His ped AND the OB I was seeing at the time BOTH said there was no concern for pregnant women.

There wasn't much I could do, even there was concern, yk? It's not like I was going to run screaming from my toddler all day, lol.

How weird, though, that we got completely opposite reports on the level of concern.


Kinsey

[Jenelle]

My son was diagnosed with this when I was in my first trimester... his ped. told me not to worry and shrugged it off like it was no big deal.

I have a friend whose son had it early in her pregnancy also, and when she talked to the nurse in the ER she told her not to touch him, etc. :eyesroll Right. Like she hadn't already been exposed to it by the time her son broke out in spots all over his body.

I agree that they just want us to be careful, but have not read any concrete evidence or heard any horrible stories about it. It's definitely one of those "can't do anything about it, so why worry?" situations for us moms who have been exposed to it already.

[NWmama]

My doctor/nurse said not to worry about HFM when I called during my 2nd/3rd trimester (it was going around my dd's playgroup).

The nurse even said that it'd be better for my dd to get it now instead of getting it later and bringing it home with a newborn around. I never came down with anything (most/a lot of adults already have had it).

[Jenelle]

What are the chances? Yesterday I replied to this thread and this morning my son woke up with the spots. Now I'm 26 weeks, and I guess I still won't worry! :shrug