Health Tip for Future Moms: You Can Protect Your Unborn Child Today

Planning to get married and start a family? Many women may not realize it but aside from putting your home and finances in order, another item that should be on top of your list is preparing for the good health of your future baby. One way you can start protecting your unborn child now is to ensure you are protected against diseases such as chickenpox and german measles during the delicate time of pregnancy.

We remember these two diseases as common childhood illnesses we may have experienced firsthand which we don’t have to fear as adults anymore. But women who have not contracted either chickenpox or german measles in the past should take the necessary steps to protect themselves as the greatest danger these diseases actually pose is to infants in the womb.

Chickenpox may have children scratching at itchy blisters for weeks but it is much more devastating to an unborn child. A primary maternal varicella infection or when the woman experiences chickenpox in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy is occasionally associated with a variety of abnormalities in the newborn, including low birth weight, atrophy of an extremity, skin scarring, localized muscular atrophy, encephalitis, cortical atrophy, retina and choroid inflammation, and microcephaly or a congenitally small brain. This constellation of abnormalities is collectively known as Congenital Varicella Syndrome or CVS.

Rubella, more commonly known as German measles, another illness we encountered when we were young, is another disease that mothers to be must be protected against. If a woman gets rubella in the first trimester of pregnancy, there is an 80% chance that her baby will be born deaf or blind, with heart defects, microcephaly, mental retardation, bone alterations and liver and spleen damage. This is called Congenital Rubella Syndrome, or CRS. Miscarriages are also common among women who get rubella while they are pregnant.

To protect our unborn babies and ensure our good health, the 2008 Routine Adult Immunization for Filipinos of the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination (PFV) and the Philippine Society of Microbiology and Infectious Disease (PSMID) recommends that all adults especially non-pregnant women of childbearing age should be vaccinated with two doses of Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) and chickenpox vaccines. In just two visits to your doctor (the second dose of both vaccines can be given as early as 1 month after the first dose), mothers-to-be can have two less things to worry about when it comes to their pregnancy.

As one of the world’s leading vaccine manufacturers, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) offers future mothers a range of vaccines that can protect them and their future babies against potentially harmful diseases, including MMR and chickenpox. If you are a non-pregnant women of childbearing age and especially if you are already planning to get married and start a family, visit your doctor to discuss vaccination and be on your way to giving your future baby the best start in life.