How Will My Delivery Or Baby Be Affected?
Genital HPV is the most common type of STIs where up to three quarters of genitally active men and women will be affected at some point in their lives, but most will be unaware as a result of no apparent symptoms and an eventual healing on its own.
Genital warts are an outcome of physical contact through vaginal or anal intercourse, and are little less common as a result of contact without penetration, like oral sex, or by touching the genitals. These warts can occur during pregnancy, and a mother can well be responsible for transmitting the HPV virus to her baby during birth, but this is rare.
If you are pregnant and diagnosed with genital warts, you should know it is not likely to affect the health of your baby. Although they grow faster during this period due to discharge, hormonal and immune system changes, genital warts do not pose a serious threat to the baby’s health.
Most of the time, these blisters heal on their own, but if they show signs of complication with pregnancy, there are plenty of safe methods available for removing them, including freezing, laser or surgical removal. Also, make sure you tell the doctor about your pregnancy so he or she prescribes you the correct medication for your warts. Some drugs may cause birth defects.
So far, no link has been found between genital warts and delivery issues, miscarriage, premature delivery, or other pregnancy complexities. If a pregnant woman tests positive for the high-risk types of HPV associated with cervical cancer, the doctor will supervise her during the pregnancy to check for any cervical tissue changes. This change may be rapid in some pregnant women, and doctors will possibly postpone the treatment as it leads to premature labour.
However, if the warts are big enough to cause vaginal obstruction, or are bleeding due to hormonal changes, they may need to be removed before childbirth to ease the delivery process and make the passage smooth for the baby to come out. They can be removed surgically, chemically or with electric current.
A baby born to a woman with genital warts does not necessarily have HPV-related complications, but in rare cases may be born with throat warts, a serious condition called respiratory papillomatosis, which requires constant laser surgery to prevent the child’s respiratory passage from blocking.