Infectious Disease in Pregnancy

Learn more about pregnancy care for patients with infectious diseases such as syphilis, hepatitis, HIV and others.

Overview

If you have an infectious disease, it is important to have specialized care during pregnancy.

Our maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) specialists are high-risk obstetricians who support patients with health conditions in pregnancy. Those conditions include infectious diseases, such as HIV, cytomegalovirus (CMV), toxoplasmosis or syphilis.

If you are not currently pregnant, we encourage you to speak with your family physician or infectious disease specialist before planning a pregnancy.

Our care

Learn more about the specialized care provided at Mount Sinai Hospital for Medical Disorders of Pregnancy.

This content is intended for informational purposes only and is not intended to be used or relied upon for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. It does not replace the need for consultation with a health-care professional. Please speak with your health-care professional for questions about your health.

Your pregnancy care

You may be concerned about whether you can pass your infection on to your baby, or about whether your medication is safe to take during pregnancy.

Our MFM specialists will help you understand your treatment choices so that you can make the best possible decisions for both you and your baby.

We work closely with infectious disease experts in pregnancy care. You will have prenatal appointments at the Medical Disorders of Pregnancy Clinic. You may also continue to have appointments with your infectious disease specialist.

If your infection could be passed to your baby, we will work with our colleagues at the Ontario Fetal Centre. You can receive specialized ultrasounds, further testing and monitoring as needed.

Our Pediatrics team can also meet with you to talk about any more tests or monitoring that might be needed.

Treatment

Care plans will focus on treating your infectious disease while closely monitoring the health of both you and your baby.

Proper treatment can significantly minimize the risks associated with infectious disease during pregnancy. Our experience in caring for patients with infectious disease allows us to help you manage these risks.

Your care plan may include any of the following:

Blood work to see if your infection could be passed to your baby
Testing the fluid around your baby for infection
Medication to treat your infection, if available
Adjusting or adding medication for safety and effective during pregnancy
Increased monitoring of your baby
Immunization of your newborn against specific infections

Labour and delivery

Our recommendations for your labour and delivery care may include some of the following:

Scheduling an induction of labour if needed
Scheduling a planned Caesarean section if needed
Monitoring your health throughout labour
Monitoring your baby throughout labour
Avoiding procedures that may increase the risk of infection

Following birth, we will arrange for follow-up appointments with our Pediatrics teams or with a specialist at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), as needed.