Keep all adult immunizations up to date.
Ensure that you are immune to rubella by blood test. If you are not, you require immunization.
During pregnancy, your doctor routinely tests for rubella immunity, hepatitis B and syphilis infections and, with your consent, human immunodeficiency virus.
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Follow the procedure outlined below to reduce the risk of toxoplasma and other foodborne infection.
Avoid eating undercooked meat in pregnancy. Previously frozen meat is free of toxoplasmosis. Wash hands thoroughly after handling, and keep cooking utensils thoroughly cleaned, separating those used for raw and cooked foods. Avoid contact with materials potentially contaminated with cat excrement, including kitty litter boxes. Wash raw fruit and vegetables thoroughly before eating; wash hands after handling. Wear gloves when gardening. Use foods before the expiry date.
If you are exposed to erythema infectiosum (Fifth Disease, human parvovirus B19), chicken pox or shingles during your pregnancy, inform your physician promptly.
If your partner is diagnosed with an infection other than a cold or influenza, inform your physician who can evaluate any risk.
There is currently no effective method of preventing the uncommon complications of infections during pregnancy with cytomegalovirus (CMV) or enterovirus. While women who regularly handle the respiratory secretions or diapers of young children may wish to be tested for CMV immunity before pregnancy, the only current preventive strategy for susceptible women is good hygiene when they are with young children in their home or in the group child care environment.
Symptoms of genital herpes may occur years after the original infection. It is almost always the first infection that occurs without any symptoms (asymptomatic primary) in a mother that affects the infant; such infections are very, very rare and cannot be identified.
Because of the difficulty in interpreting blood tests for infection during pregnancy, testing for immunity before pregnancy is preferable.
