Fetal Infections

The Stanford Medicine Children’s Health Fetal and Pregnancy Health Program provides comprehensive evaluation and management of fetal and maternal infections. Our program combines expertise from the Pregnancy Infectious Diseases Program with our world-renowned Stanford virology and microbiology laboratories to analyze blood and tissue samples. You will be cared for by specialists from Obstetrics (maternal-fetal medicine specialists or high-risk pregnancy doctors), the Pediatric Infectious Diseases program, and Neonatology. This multispecialty team will provide care for your unborn baby’s infection during and after pregnancy. 

What are fetal infections?

As an expectant mother, if you have an infection (an illness due to a virus, bacteria, or a parasite) during pregnancy, it can sometimes be passed on to your fetus. Sometimes, an infection can affect your unborn baby’s health and development. Fetal infections are called congenital (occurring in utero or at the time of birth) infections. Examples of congenital infections include those caused by cytomegalovirus (CMV), toxoplasma, parvovirus, syphilis bacteria, varicella (chickenpox) virus, hepatitis B virus, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and herpes simplex virus. When a fetal infection occurs, we perform fetal monitoring to continually check the health of your unborn baby.   

How do you diagnose fetal infections?

We diagnose fetal infections during pregnancy in two ways: during routine tests that you receive during pregnancy and by fetal ultrasound (an imaging scan). We can also perform in-depth testing. For example, if you have a known infection that can disrupt your fetus’s development, we may perform an amniocentesis (a procedure that takes a small sample of amniotic fluid—the fluid surrounding your fetus) to determine if your fetus is also infected.

What does having a fetal infection mean for my child?

It is understandable that you may be concerned, but more often than not, the news is reassuring. For most infections, if appropriate treatment is available, the risk of infection passing through the placenta and infecting the unborn baby is small. Whether or not your baby becomes infected depends on the specific infection and the timing of the infection during pregnancy. Even with infections that cross the placenta, in many cases our early and regular care during pregnancy can decrease or avoid complications.

How does the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford team typically treat fetal infections?

When you have a chronic (ongoing) infection and become pregnant, or when you contract an infection while pregnant, our Fetal and Pregnancy Health Program team partners with our highly specialized Pregnancy Infectious Diseases Programto care for you and your unborn baby. Treatment may involve certain medications, including antibiotics, immunoglobulins (antibodies), antivirals, and antifungals that have been deemed safe for use during pregnancy. In the uncommon chance that a concerning infection is passed to your fetus, we do everything possible to manage the infection during pregnancy and carry out a multispecialty care plan for your baby after birth to decrease complications and improve outcomes.