I just went down a rabbit hole regarding what happens when you contract CMV during pregnancy and all the physical and developmental issues it can cause in children.
There is no vaccine. The CDC recommends hand washing for those more at risk (e.g., daycare workers and moms of young children).
If you are on your first or second pregnancy did your doctor discuss hygiene with you?
apricot / 490 posts
3 Simple Hygiene Precautions for Pregnant Women
Do not share food or drinks with a toddler. No more “one for mommy and one for baby.”
Don’t kiss a child under 6 years of age on the lips or cheek. Instead, kiss them on the top of the head and give them a big, long hug.
Wash your hands often with soap and water for 15-20 seconds, especially after changing diapers, wiping noses or drool, and handling toys.
pomegranate / 3601 posts
@teawithpaloma: As a mom who has been down the road having a CMV+ toddler and pregnant with #2 while being non-immune myself: It isn't as bad as you would think.
We never shared spoons anyway (risk for passing on the bacteria that cause cavities) and I did not ever feel the need to drink from my son's cup 
For diapering I used gloves or let my DH handle it when he was around. Neither me nor my daughter (who was LO2) caught it. They did monitor me closely though and redid my bloodwork every two weeks in the first trimester and every month in the second. And once more in the third trimester. Had I contacted it, I would have been given immune globolin.
I have a friend who knows kids that were exposed and they are having issues with learning disablities.
ETA: The one scare we got was when DD was born and didn't pass the newborn hearing test. They then redid my bloodwork (was easier than poking a newborn) at the hospital to rule out CMV once more because hearing loss is one of the potential issues. Luckily it came back negative and my DD passed her hearing test after 8 weeks or so. She just had fluid in her ears.
grapefruit / 4418 posts
Interesting. I'm not one to freak out or anything but I find it odd that this is never mentioned to pregnant women, but they're all over not eating a slice of turkey and froyo. I would have to compare numbers but it seems like listeria is no bigger a risk than cmv is but you hear about one all the time and not the other.
pomegranate / 3845 posts
@teawithpaloma: i know a few families where the mother contracted CMV while pregnant. Is this something you're going through?
apricot / 490 posts
@Applesandbananas: i edited my question to take away the part about knowing other families. I am not going through this just scared out of my mind because my 20 month old is in daycare and doctors don't talk about this with pregnant women.
apricot / 490 posts
@catomd00: exactly! All this about lunch meat but nothing about washing your hands.
pomegranate / 3845 posts
@teawithpaloma: yeah, it's definitely something these families wonder about too, almost all have said they never heard of it until their new baby was diagnosed with hearing loss.
apricot / 490 posts
@Pumuckl: wow how intense! How did you know you were negative and your kid had it?
pomegranate / 3601 posts
@teawithpaloma: that's a LOOOOONG story... The synopsis is that bloodwork came back positive for my son and since we knew he had it I was tested once I was pregnant.
By the way more than half the population here in Germany is believed to be immune due to having had CMV. You normally never know whether you're immune or not since its symptoms are those of any other cold.
apricot / 490 posts
@Pumuckl: right, I could be immune too and not know it. We are going to do more hand washing and more carefully guard our utensils.
grapefruit / 4418 posts
@Pumuckl: do you mind if I ask how you knew your first was positive? Was there a reason they tested for it?
pomegranate / 3601 posts
@catomd00: He was in the hospital for a high fever and petechia and while it turned out to not be meningitis (thank God!) it did show slightly elevated liver markers. It's when they tried to get to the bottom of those when they tested for viruses that can cause these. CMV is one of them.
grapefruit / 4361 posts
Yeah, I am a teacher at a 4th-8th grade school and actively attend a church with more children than adults soooo this kind of thing freaks me out a bit. My OB never mentioned anything about it though.
apricot / 490 posts
@travellingbee: it's a mostly silent virus that can cause birth defects if an infection occurs during pregnancy. Here's a good website with more facts: http://www.cdc.gov/cmv/risk/preg-women.html
apricot / 490 posts
@DesertDreams88: I guess the OB community decided not to stress pregnant women out and they feel the information causes more harm than benefits.
hostess / papaya / 10219 posts
@teawithpaloma: well that's terrifying. 
you can't know if you have it or had it and it doesn't have symptoms and it may or may not cause major issues with your child. Geez
apricot / 490 posts
@travellingbee: I am sorry to terrify you. 
at least we can know that more hand washing and other preventive measures can reduce the risk.
hostess / papaya / 10219 posts
@teawithpaloma: too late for me. I'm 38 weeks. So I will choose to believe I wasn't exposed.
apricot / 490 posts
@travellingbee: I am sure you and the baby are fine. Everyday we take risks in where we go, what we do, what we eat, etc. This one just took me by surprise because I am not sure why OBs aren't talking about it.
pomegranate / 3601 posts
@teawithpaloma: @travellingbee: Very interesting to hear that your OBs don't warn about it. Daycare teachers here def. are warned and most are even written sick when pregnant (they still receive their salaries).
@travellingbee: You remember "weirdo virus" from the Spring 2013 thread?
hostess / papaya / 10219 posts
@Pumuckl: I don't... I'll have to go back and look at it.
apricot / 490 posts
This was a good scientific article for any who visit this thread and want to learn more about prevention efforts:
apricot / 490 posts
For anyone who searches this post I just wanted to add an update. I asked my OBGYN about this and parovirus and he said no problem he would run titers to see if I have had an infection before. I have had both in the past and am not having a current infection which was my main concern during my first trimester. I suggest asking your doctor to do the same if you are concerned or have questions and not to suffer in silence with worry or anxiety!
olive / 54 posts
For anyone who ends up with a cCMV diagnosis and finds this thread, we had a TMFR due to a severe prognosis due to a primary CMV infection in my first trimester. I know it's scary to hear that these things can happen, but if anyone has questions, I'm sadly a bit of an expert now and I'm happy to share what we learned through our experience.
There is definitely no "standard of care" for CMV prevention, but there is advocacy/awareness work happening out there from families that have been affected by this devastating virus and there are things you can ask your OB to check to be more proactive, even though it's not yet the standard. The more you know...
nectarine / 2821 posts
I tried to post but it disappeared! I am so sorry this is what you went through @Academicsocialite:
This is one of those things we can be exposed to when pregnant at my work, as a pediatric nurse, and so I am familiar with it. Its a little scary because of how common it is and how horrible the affects can be. And I definitely agree they should improve education about this.
kiwi / 556 posts
Wow I just want to say thanks for updating this thread. I definitely didn't know about this. I know I'm not immune to chicken pox so I've been really paranoid about being around sick kids.
@Academicsocialite: thanks for posting your experience and I'm so sorry for your loss.
olive / 54 posts
@junebugsmama: yes, it's so common and yet so rare to have such severe outcomes. So I'm definitely a "worst case scenario". My regular OB was utterly flummoxed when we got the diagnosis (not exactly reassuring - I have no intention of going back to her again).
That said, it would have been a simple test to find out if I had the antibodies in my system and if I'd known to ask - given that I have a preschooler, I would have been at slightly higher risk - I definitely would have gotten that checked. They run for other TORCH viruses like parvo, rubella, and toxoplasmosis, so I'm not sure why CMV doesn't qualify for testing.
persimmon / 1310 posts
I worked in a clinic setting with hearing-impaired children before becoming pregnant the first time. A number of our clients were hearing impaired due to congenital CMV infection, so I was aware of it.
When I got pregnant, I asked for the test to see if I had been previously exposed to CMV or not. Unfortunately, I hadn't. At that point I wasn't working there anymore, but I know it would have been super stressful if I was.
In subsequent pregnancies, I haven't been tested.
olive / 54 posts
@Iced Tea: so interesting to hear your perspective. Did any of the CMV kids you worked with have other issues besides the hearing loss? I know from our pediatric neuro consult that it can also cause CP and epilepsy in severe cases.
persimmon / 1310 posts
@Academicsocialite: I'm so sorry for your loss. I remember at least one client with severe CP.
nectarine / 2821 posts
@Academicsocialite: one of the patient at my work with severe disability from it I always think of, and his preschool aged sibling had a classmate who coughed in mom's face (at least that's what I remember the story being, I was a brand new nurse at the time).
I never quite understood if congenital cmv means they are always potentially transmitting the virus. I would think someone with a current active infection would be the most infectious and the most dangerous to a pregnant mom.
Again, so sorry for your loss and I am glad you are here on HB as you get ready to share more about your difficult journey
olive / 54 posts
@junebugsmama: my understanding is the children born with cCMV don't shed/transmit the virus constantly. Only those individuals (children and adults) who have an active infection would shed the virus/infect others. But I'll admit that even with the reading I've done, there's not a ton out there that puts this in layman's terms and not as much is known about those who appear to have recurrent infections. Does that make sense to you?
And thank you for the kind words... I'm still grappling with writing it all down but I do imagine I'll post sometime soon with more about what happened to us and how we came to our decision.
pomegranate / 3973 posts
Bumping this post as I just found out that my cousin's baby has cCMV and it sounds like a pretty severe case. My heart hurts so much for her!
I had never even heard of this virus before, so the idea of it being easily transmitted via my own young children is pretty scary. I don't believe many women know of CMV so thought it was worth bumping again.
This site has lot of info...
https://www.nationalcmv.org/home.aspx
pear / 1737 posts
Good idea to bump. I had a scare in my second pregnancy after getting a positive test for cmv after going to the midwife with a face rash and she suggested getting tested. I then had a follow up test that was inconclusive and I went to see a specialist and had two in-depth scans at 25 ish and 27 weeks (can’t exactly remember the weeks I went). I was very relieved nothing came of it for my baby and it was a really upsetting and scary month while I worried.
apricot / 285 posts
@josina I am so sorry to hear this. It is not discussed very often.
I contracted CMV late in my first trimester. I randomly opted into a study on it, otherwise I would have no idea. Currently there are no signs that it has transmitted to the baby (I'm due in a few weeks) but the baby will be fully tested when born. It was not something I had ever heard of before nor did I know I was at a higher risk with a toddler at home.
I elected to continue to stay in the study, I receive infusions every 3-5 weeks to hopefully prevent the virus from transmitting to the baby and reducing the chances of any birth defects. We are lucky that so far the baby continues to grow and if anything we will be faced with minor birth defects. The statistics are very scary around this, my initial reaction to the positive result was not this calm. Bottom line is the risk of severe birth defects is extremely low, if I remember correctly 1-4% of women contract CMV for the first time during pregnancy and then from there the chances of passing to baby are 1 in 3.
The study is sponsored by the NIH and is to further understand the leading birth defects as the result of a first time infection for the mother during pregnancy. Hearing loss in the first two years of life is the most common birth defect identified.
It is definitely not discussed enough and I am hoping that my participation will lead to further support that there should be more education and testing.
pomegranate / 3973 posts
@MACSUNSHINE: Sorry to see that you had contracted CMV, prayers that it was not passed on to your baby; I can't even imagine how scary that would be.
@Mrs. Goose: Glad that your baby was just fine, so scary!
Stats say 1 in 200 children are born with CMV every year, so I am surprised its NOT talked about more, especially to mother's who already have toddlers at home. I shared drinks/food/kisses all the time with DS while pregnant.
grape / 98 posts
I've know about congenital CMV infection long before I even got pregnant with my first child. I'm a pharmacist with an interest in medical things, so I happen upon a lot of random health information. I asked my primary care doctor for a blood test for CMV (while I was not pregnant), and he said he couldn't do it. So I have no idea whether or not I've had it before.
I have a 16 month old in daycare. I got a BFP at 10 dpo. On 12 dpo I came down with severe nausea, and my joints started to ache, like I was coming down with something. I ended up going to the ER. Shortly after the joint achiness went away (so that lasted less than 24 hours), but the nausea was still really bad so after running a bunch of tests and ultrasounds (that found nothing) they released me with some Reglan. One would think my CBC would be off if I had some sort of infection, and they said mine was normal, so I don't know what was going on. . . .
I'm 9 weeks pregnant right now. I asked my OB if it could have been CMV that sent me to the ER, and he said it was rather unlikely. We just left it at that. Should I push to get tested for CMV? He already thinks I'm a neurotic crazy patient, which is somewhat true :$ I hate being pregnant, so many things to worry about >_<
persimmon / 1310 posts
@MACSUNSHINE: I’m sorry you have to contend with that. I know I’d be scared.
@thepaperbutterfly: if I were you, I’d find a provider who was more interested in making me feel comfortable. There’s enough to deal with in pregnancy as it is without being out-of-sync with your healthcare provider. At a preconception appointment, I asked for, and received a test for cmv antibodies. My midwife ordered the test and did not hassle me at all about it.
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