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How is chickenpox treated during pregnancy?

Your treatment will depend on the stage of pregnancy and your symptoms.

If you're pregnant and think you have chickenpox, contact your GP, midwife or NHS 111 immediately.

Chickenpox can cause complications for both the pregnant mother and her baby, so you should get medical advice as soon as possible.

Antiviral medicine

You may be offered aciclovir, an antiviral medicine, which should be given within 24 hours of the chickenpox rash appearing.

Aciclovir doesn't cure chickenpox, but it can make the symptoms, such as fever, less severe and help prevent complications.

Discuss the risks and benefits with your doctor.

Self-help

To help relieve your symptoms, you can try the following:

  • drink plenty of fluids
  • take paracetamol to lower a temperature or help with pain
  • use cooling creams or gels from your pharmacy
  • take antihistamines, only if recommended by a pharmacist or GP

Will I need to go to hospital?

If you're pregnant, have chickenpox and develop any of these symptoms, you should be admitted to hospital:

  • chest and breathing problems
  • headache, drowsiness, vomiting or feeling sick
  • vaginal bleeding
  • a rash that's bleeding
  • a severe rash

These symptoms are a sign that you may be developing complications of chickenpox and need specialist care. You should also be admitted if you have a condition that means your immune system is weak (immunosuppressed).

Will my baby need to be treated?

Once you have chickenpox, there's no treatment that can prevent your baby getting chickenpox in the uterus.

After the birth, your GP may consider treating your baby with chickenpox antibodies called varicella zoster immune globulin (VZIG) if:

  • your baby's born within 7 days of you developing a chickenpox rash
  • you develop a chickenpox rash within 7 days of giving birth
  • your baby's exposed to chickenpox or shingles within 7 days of birth and they aren't immune to the chickenpox virus

If your newborn baby develops chickenpox, your GP may treat them with aciclovir.

Read the answers to more questions about pregnancy.

Further information