Women diagnosed with HPV during pregnancy generally feel anxious that such an infection may infect their unborn child. This is but a very natural assumption as many medical conditions can be passed on from the mother to the child, but with HPV, this is not the case. The development of the child inside the womb will
not be in anyway affected even if the mother is afflicted with HPV. Women who suffer from symptomatic HPV infection, such as in the case of expectant mothers who feature warts in and around the genital region, receive the same quality of prenatal care. It is crucial for mothers to report HPV infection during initial prenatal checkup in order for the doctor to look into the matter thoroughly, to verify if additional precaution is needed until delivery.
HPV Testing During Pregnancy
It has been a routine in most hospitals that expectant mothers undergo Papsmear during the first pre natal visit. This diagnostic procedure will be able to identify the presence of abnormal cell growth or proliferation. More tests will be ordered if and when the tissue samples evaluated come out with abnormal results. This is performed in order to assess if the HPV infection is caused by
cancer-causing strains. If the results came out HPV to have no tendency of developing to cancer, a pregnant woman will be asked to follow the same set of precautions as those not infected by HPV.
In the case of women with history of HPV, doctors will ne
ed to monitor pregnancy closely. This is especially true if a woman is afflicted with cancer-causing HPV strain, mainly because proliferation of abnormal cells is more likely to occur
during pregnancy.
Side Effects of HPV on Pregnant Mothers
To date, there are no known pregnancy complications associated with HPV infection. In terms of rate of transmission, the likelihood of the fetus to contract the disease via placental circulation is minimal to none. Women diagnosed with cervical cancer-causing HPV infection will receive close and in tensive monitoring not because of high risk of miscarriage, more so for the high risk of abnormal cell proliferation that commonly happens during pregnancy. HPV treatment is not necessary during pregnancy as chemicals found in medications may induce premature labor or abnormal contractions.
In the case of women with genital warts, no medications are prescribed as well. Doctors will most likely monitor the changes in the size of warts, as it is common for these lesions to multiple during pregnancy. Warts that may bleed out or multiply in size and frequency will be treated accordingly, but only with non -teratogenic products.
If and when the warts that grow within the walls of the cervix grow out of proportions, an expectant mother may need t undergo surgery to remove them immediately. Genital warts that are too big in size may cause obstruction during delivery, thus surgical removal becomes necessary.
After childbirth, women are then advised to take the necessary steps to get genital warts treated. Those with symptomatic HPV infection are recommended prescription topical solutions and prescribed medications that are safe, but extremely effective in getting rid of unwanted, painful warts for good!
