Pregnancy sex is not STI safe and you need to ensure you take care of yourself and your babys health to make any sexual experience at his time be safe and enjoyable. The most important question is what you and your partners Herpes Simplex Virus statuses are for HSV-1 (oral) and HSV-2 (genital). And like many you may genuinely not know. The only sure way to determine is via blood test. And you need to know if you have none, one or both. Most people have HSV-1 which is basis for cold sores. Many people have NO clue they have HSV-2 genital herpes as they dont have outbreaks and never did. For some women their infection lesion site is internally so they truly have never seen a lesion.
Now this can be confusing as someone may have genital herpes that is actually a HSV-1 oral infection transmitted via mucosal skin contact of the oral mucosa to the genital mucosa. This is referred to as HSV-1 genitally. This is due to the norm of oral genital play among couples.
The mother needs to know is if she is negative (seronegative) for HSV-1 or HSV-2 and if her partner carries (seropositive for) HSV-1 and or HSV-2. If she finds out shes negative and her partners positive she needs to ensure she does not become infected and have what is called a primary infection during the pregnancy especially the last trimester and during delivery. Why? Because her body will mount a massive immune response to the first time her body is exposed to this infection and that immune response can harm or even kill the baby.
If a woman knows she has genital herpes and is familiar with the cycle of recurrence she experiences she and her physician will already have a plan in place to ensure a safe delivery. There isnt the same primary immune response with recurrences. I dont want to scare people half to death but ignorance of your HSV 1 & 2 status could have major impacts on your baby.
