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SAN DIEGO – Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) is observing Prenatal Infection Prevention Awareness month during February.
Prenatal Infection Awareness Month promotes awareness of infections transmitted from mother to baby.
Prenatal infections can include bacterial or viral illnesses that are at risk of being passed from a mother to her baby during pregnancy, or while giving birth. Due to the serious complications that can result for both the mother and baby, prenatal infection prevention is a vital part of mother and child health education.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has 10 helpful tips to help a mother be aware and prepared to prevent prenatal infections. Protection from Zika virus is important, and can be passed from a pregnant women to her baby during pregnancy, and around the time of birth. Zika virus can cause microcephaly, a birth defect where a baby’s head and brain are
smaller than babies of the same age. It can also cause severe brain defects.
Another way to prevent prenatal infections is by washing your hands with soap and water often. It’s also important to reduce contact with saliva and urine from babies or young children. Saliva and urine of babies and young children can contain a common virus called cytomegalovirus (CMV), which causes problems in some babies such as hearing loss or microcephaly. A mother who is infected with CMV can pass the virus to their fetus during
pregnancy. A mother can decrease transmission risk is by not sharing food, utensils, or drinks with young children. Thoroughly washing your hands after changing diapers will also help mitigate transmission.
Mothers and babies can avoid raw milk and unpasteurized foods to help protect themselves from harmful parasites. Cat litter and rodent droppings can contain harmful parasites and viruses that can harm an expectant mother and her baby. Expectant mothers should refrain from cleaning cat litter boxes and rodent droppings.
By getting tested for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), such as HIV and hepatitis B, expectant mothers can help reduce the chances of their baby contracting illnesses. New mothers should also stay up to date on vaccinations, and avoid sick people to keep themselves and their babies from getting sick or having life-long health problems.
Always consult with a healthcare provider to have questions answered. A healthcare provider can teach an expectant mother about safe food preparation, taking medication and any other important topic that can keep them and their developing baby safe and healthy.
NMCSD’s mission is to prepare service members to deploy in support of operational forces, deliver high quality healthcare services and shape the future of military medicine through education, training and research. NMCSD employs more than 6,000 active duty military personnel, civilians and contractors in Southern California to provide patients with world-class
care anytime, anywhere.
Visit navy.mil or facebook.com/NMCSD for more information.
| Date Taken: | 02.09.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 02.16.2021 16:26 |
| Story ID: | 388710 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 20 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NMCSD Observes Prenatal Infection Prevention Month, by PO3 Harley Sarmiento, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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