Pregnant women with hepatitis B should be treated like?

Hepatitis B is a fairly common disease caused by the HBV virus. For normal people, this disease is not too dangerous, but if pregnant women have hepatitis B, there is a high risk of infection to the baby.

Hepatitis B is a disease that can affect everyone. In the early stages, the disease usually progresses silently, without any special signs, so it is difficult to detect. What if you got hepatitis B while pregnant? Let aFamilyToday Health follow up with the following shares to find the answer to this problem.  

Researchers have shown that only 40% of babies are born infected with hepatitis B from their mothers, and not all babies carry the disease for life. But the best to ensure the health of your baby, if you plan to become pregnant in the near future, you should have a blood test to screen for this disease. Because if not detected early, treated promptly and properly, hepatitis B can lead to some serious problems. However, if you got hepatitis B while pregnant but treated early, it can be easy to manage your complications.

Information you need to know about pregnant women with hepatitis B

Hepatitis B is an infectious liver disease caused by the HBV virus. This virus spreads from person to person through the blood and body fluids of an infected person such as semen, vaginal secretions, breast milk, saliva, blood pus from the wound.

The human immune system can fight off this virus without the use of any additional drugs. However, there are some cases where the virus lurks in the body, leading to chronic hepatitis B, which causes serious liver damage and cannot be completely cured.

Pregnant women with hepatitis B can be passed on to their babies. Therefore, you need to pay attention to take care of yourself, if you see symptoms of the disease, it is best to get checked early for timely treatment. If the test shows that you are positive for the hepatitis B virus, your doctor will vaccinate your baby soon after birth. If you have high levels of the virus in your blood, your doctor may prescribe medicines to control the disease.

Symptoms of hepatitis B

Like normal people, in the early stages, pregnant women with hepatitis B do not have many obvious symptoms. If so, these symptoms are similar to other pregnancy symptoms , making them difficult to detect. That's why it's a good idea to get tested early if you think you have hepatitis B. Here are some common symptoms:

Pain and fatigue, these symptoms are quite similar to the common cold and flu symptoms

Loss of appetite and nausea

Tired

Jaundice, yellow eyes, and yellow urine

Low-grade fever.

What complications can a pregnant woman have with hepatitis B?

Usually, hepatitis B does not affect childbirth or pregnancy much. But the disease can increase your risk of pregnancy complications such as:

Increased risk of  preterm birth and miscarriage

Increased risk of gestational diabetes

Increased risk of having a baby underweight

Causes damage to the baby's liver during fetal stage.

Some misconceptions about pregnant women have hepatitis B

In the past, you often heard pregnant women with hepatitis B had to have a cesarean section to limit the infection to their babies? In fact, in this case, you don't necessarily have to have a cesarean section. The reason is that the hepatitis B virus can be passed on to your baby, but the infection is caused by the virus in your body fluids passed on to your baby at birth. Therefore, regardless of normal birth or cesarean delivery, your baby is still at risk of infection. Most studies say that you can still breastfeed with hepatitis B as long as your baby is vaccinated on time.

Pregnant women with hepatitis B should be treated like?

According to the survey, the mode of transmission of hepatitis B from mother to child is the most common. Here are the steps to treat this condition:

First, if you find that you have the above symptoms, you should have a blood test to see if you have hepatitis B or not. If the results show that you have hepatitis B, don't worry too much. Talk specifically with your doctor to have positive treatment directions and an effective plan to prevent infection for your baby.

Your doctor may order further tests to check the levels of the hepatitis B virus in your blood. In the case of high concentrations, your doctor will administer treatment with medications to help control the condition. Tenofovir or Viread are two commonly used medications. 

If the test shows that you are positive for the hepatitis B virus, your baby must be vaccinated after birth. Your baby will be given two doses: one dose of hepatitis B vaccine (5 mcg dose) and one dose of hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIG, 0.5 ml). These two injections will be given in different limbs. If given correctly, the drug can protect your baby from the risk of getting hepatitis B. The injection is usually the first 12 - 24 hours after birth and will be re-injected when your baby is one month, two months, and one year old. In addition, your baby may need to be re-vaccinated when he is 5 years old.

If you have hepatitis B while you are pregnant, you need regular monitoring and medical check-ups to detect serious symptoms promptly.

Pregnant women with hepatitis B during pregnancy should not worry too much. If you follow your doctor's instructions, you can easily protect your baby from the risk of this disease.