Be careful with oral sex during pregnancy!
During pregnancy there are a number of things that the expectant mother has to do without: such as nicotine, caffeine and alcohol. But did you know that oral sex can also pose health risks for the unborn baby – and is therefore actually taboo?
Oral sex may be a nice alternative to sexual intercourse during pregnancy – but women should avoid it, especially in the last trimester of pregnancy. Because what many people forget: diseases can also be transmitted during oral sex. For example herpes.
Oral sex during pregnancy? No!
“The greatest danger is when a woman gets herpes in the last trimester of pregnancy,” nurse and herpes expert Terri Warren told Vice magazine.
If pregnant women contract it before birth, there is a 50 percent risk that the baby will also get herpes. The reason for this, according to Terri Warren, is:
“The immune system is weakened during this time and cannot react to it as usual. Difficulties are inevitable with a new infection so close to birth.”
Danger to life for the baby
Such difficulties arise when the mom-to-be was first infected with herpes in the genital area. Prof. Klaus Vetter, chief physician of the clinic for obstetrics at the Vivantes Klinikum Neukölln, explains to baby and family.
“[At] birth, the virus then enters the baby’s blood through the skin and eyes and can travel to the brain from there and cause encephalitis.”
Information is important!
It is important to educate yourself about safer sex before and during pregnancy – even in a committed relationship! – to be informed thoroughly, preferably with your gynaecologist.
You can talk to her about tests and precautions. So nothing stands in the way of oral sex during pregnancy 😉
You can find out more about this in our article “Does sex during pregnancy harm the baby?”