If you have genital herpes, what risks are there to your unborn baby?

Fetus can get herpes: A fetus (unborn baby) can catch herpes from the mother before labor and delivery. Such transmission of the herpes virus is uncommon but does occur sometimes. It happens more often if the mom catches herpes for the first time while she is pregnant, because she won't have pre-existing antibodies to block the virus. Most of the newborns with herpes caught it during or soon after the birth process.

Possible: It is possible for the baby to get this when passing through the birth canal. Discuss with your obstetrician.

Depends: If you develop primary herpes infection (first time) during the pregnancy, chance is high for newborn to get infected. However, if you already had one and it became reactivated during the pregnancy, transmission rate is very low.