You catch this virus through contact with blood. Today, most Americans get it after sharing needles or other tools to inject drugs. HCV is showing up in more and more pregnant women, probably because of the sharp rise in heroin and prescription drug abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How HCV Affects Your Baby<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One in 20 infants born to mothers with HCV gets the virus. That can happen in the womb, during delivery, or after the baby is born. The disease usually does not affect your baby before birth. Your child can\u2019t catch the virus from your breast\u00a0milk, but check with your doctor if your nipples are cracked or bleeding since the virus spreads through blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s no way to prevent the virus from spreading to your baby. You don\u2019t need to deliver by caesarian section just because you have hepatitis C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Test and Care<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Most doctors recommend testing a baby for hepatitis C\u00a0after they\u2019re 18 months old. Checking before then isn\u2019t useful because a very young infant still carries his mother\u2019s antibodies\u00a0to HCV. A test would show that the baby is infected when he might not be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What You Can Do<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Doctors don\u2019t regularly test for hepatitis C<\/a> during pregnancy. If you have any reason to think you might have it — because you\u2019ve used drugs or had sex with someone who has the disease, for example — get tested. Do it even if you feel fine. Four out of 5 people with HCV don\u2019t have any symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your doctor likely won\u2019t treat you for\u00a0hepatitis C<\/a>\u00a0while you\u2019re pregnant because the medications can cause birth defects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like hepatitis C, this virus can cause serious infections that damage the liver. You can pass both viruses to your baby before, during, or after vaginal or C-section delivery. The difference with\u00a0hepatitis B<\/a>\u00a0is that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Care After Delivery<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s no cure for hepatitis B. But if your newborn gets his first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine and another shot called hepatitis B immune globulin within 12 hours, he has better than a 90% chance of never getting the virus. All babies routinely get the first shot. But they get the immune globulin only if the mother has or is suspected of having HBV. The baby also needs two remaining doses of the vaccine over the next 6 months to get maximum protection. You can safely breastfeed\u00a0if you have hepatitis B.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a much milder form of hepatitis than the other two types. But it\u2019s the only one that can causes serious problems during your pregnancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHepatitis B (HBV)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Hepatitis A (HAV)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n