Although some of the viruses, such as rubella virus, syphilis, herpes, polio and various forms of influenza, still have the ability to penetrate the placental barrier.
So when the rubella virus gets into the body of the future mother and fetus, the latter can have severe consequences in the form of blindness, deafness, heart disease, brain damage and deformity of the limbs, depending on what period of development of the embryo or fetus was the infection of the mother.
Infection of the mother with such viruses as influenza, bacterial vaginosis, as well as the presence of chronic diseases in the form of diabetes, high blood pressure, or sexually transmitted diseases, can harm the development of the fetus in many ways. So, for example, the above diseases can, at best, infect the fetus or cause miscarriages, and in the worst case, severe deformities or the birth of a dead fetus. They are also capable of leading a child to death in infancy.
Let's see how the disease affects the pregnancy.
Above we examined the effect of disease on pregnancy in general terms. Now let's look at each disease that can affect pregnancy, in more detail.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
In most cases, AIDS is a rather difficult disease, often leading to death, but there are exceptions in the form of recovery. The disease usually occurs when a person is infected with the immunodeficiency virus (HIV), in which the immune system is gradually destroyed and a person dies from the most insignificant not only bacterial, but also viral infections, harmless to a healthy person.
Diabetes.
Disease of the mother with diabetes can lead to numerous defects in the child's physical development; in rare cases, it can lead to the birth of a dead fetus, because the size of the fetus with this disease of the mother can be much more than the border of the norm, thereby increasing the chance of heavy birth.
Gonorrhea.
Gonorrheal infection, transmitted by the mother to the child at birth, can cause blindness of the newborn.
Herpes.
A virus that can cause genital herpes can be transmitted through the placental barrier, but more often there are cases when the infection is transmitted to the baby during childbirth. Here the consequences for the child are blindness, neurological problems, mental retardation and, in most cases, death.
High blood pressure.
At high pressure, which is chronic, if it is not observed and treated during pregnancy, there is a risk of miscarriage.
Syphilis.
In case of syphilis, the infection, during the first half of pregnancy, is usually unable to penetrate the placenta. Infection of the child in this case can occur either during childbirth, or shortly before them. The virus of syphilis can cause premature contractions and miscarriages, and cause deafness and purulent skin damage.
Flu.
Most strains of the influenza virus have the property of penetrating the placental barrier. The most common consequences of influenza infection are miscarriages in the early stages of pregnancy or premature labor in later stages. The increase in the body temperature of the mother, if not carried out in time, can also be fatal to the fetus.
Rhesus factor.
In a sense, the disease is also different Rh factors in the mother and her child, since some protein (protein) component found in the mother's blood can cause serious enough anomalies or death of the fetus. Most of the future mothers have a positive Rh factor, but some have a shortage of one of the blood constituents, as a result of which they are Rh-negative. In the case when a Rh-positive mother develops a Rh-positive baby and their blood comes in contact, penetrating through the placenta or during labor, the mother's blood begins the process of synthesizing antibodies that attack the red blood cells of the fetus and destroy them. Although the child usually does not face any danger when carrying the first pregnancy (and the mother especially), but in subsequent pregnancies, the fetus may already be at higher risk if he, like the first child, has a positive Rh factor.
Rubella.
In the event that rubella infection occurred during the first 16 weeks of pregnancy (but only after implantation), doctors often recommend its interruption, due to the high risk of destruction of the embryo or fetus.
Toxicosis of pregnant women.
When a pregnant woman becomes pregnant with preeclampsia, or a more serious disease - eclampsia in the fetus, either the destruction of the fetal brain or death may begin. Symptoms of these disorders are most often high blood pressure, blurred vision, increased sweating of the face and hands. Although usually these forms of toxicosis are not difficult to control, but a prerequisite for this to the mothers suffering from them is compliance with bed rest and a special diet.
Alcohol.
A disease that adversely affects the course of pregnancy can also be attributed to alcoholism, which can cause serious and persistent congenital anomalies in the embryo and developing fetus. Congenital anomalies, closely related to the effect of alcohol on the embryo or fetus, arise easily during the first 3-8 weeks of pregnancy, that is, much earlier than a woman learns about it.
As shown by various studies in this field, more than a third of infants born to drinking mothers suffer from congenital anomalies, because even such a small dose as 60 ml of alcohol taken by a woman during pregnancy every day can lead to facial deformation of the fetus.
This category also includes fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), which is characterized by the birth of children with serious diseases in strongly drinking mothers. Fetal alcohol syndrome consists of three main components: facial distortion, growth retardation and central nervous system defects. The distinctive features of children born by such parents are a thin upper lip, a weakly developed notch above it, a wide space between the edges of the eyelids, and flat cheekbones.