There is often a lot of conjecture about the possible links between genital warts and pregnancy. In particular there is often discussion that is based around the risk that the condition can be passed onto your baby. This article attempts to explain this situation in more detail so you have a better understanding of how genital warts and pregnancy are connected.

A substantial proportion of the population get infected by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and then present with genital warts. Women who become pregnant run a risk of passing on this disease to their baby as it is very contagious. Accordingly, it is recommended that the problem should be treated before the child is due.

The genital warts themselves can even cause problems during pregnancy and have potential to create other health issues. For example, you might find that the warts will grow larger and this can lead to pain or difficulty with urinating. You might also find that, due to changes with your hormones, the growths will be more significant and could even start bleeding. If the warts are located inside the vagina, they also could limit the elasticity of this region which might lead to obstruction or at least a more difficult delivery process.

Obviously genital warts and pregnancy are not a great mix so it is important that you get proper medical attention as soon as possible. The HPV has potential to weaken your natural immune system so this adds increased potential for contracting other infections or viruses. It is not all doom and gloom though and some things need to be kept in perspective. In most cases pregnant women will not pass the condition onto their child. This doesn’t meant that you should ignore the potential problems that can occur. This includes laryngeal papillomatosis which is the name of a condition where babies get infected with warts in their throats. Although this is quite uncommon, it is obviously a very dangerous condition if it happens and it will require quick medical treatment.

For the reasons outlined above you really need to consider ways of treating the condition before it impacts significantly on your health or the health of your unborn child. If you are looking at prevention to make sure that it isn’t an issue for you in the first place, then a good starting point is to make sure that you are not having sex with someone that has HPV. Abstinence is great, but not always realistic, so if you find this difficult in your particular circumstances at least try to be careful with any potential partner. You really need to reduce the potential of getting the disease so consider using condoms as they will provide some protection from potentially getting the infection.

Genital warts are clearly an unpleasant problem to deal with and this applies whether you are pregnant or not. If you are pregnant though, there are even more reasons to take precautions to ensure that you don’t contract the infection in the first place or to make sure that you get proper medical treatment if you do.