Chickenpox Is Serious During Pregnancy, So Here’s What You Can Do to Protect Yourself

May 28, 2019 by Melissa Willets

Kecia Gaither, MD, MPH, FACOG, who is double-board-certified in ob-gyn and maternal fetal medicine, and the director of perinatal services at NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, explains to POPSUGAR that chickenpox is spread via airborne transmission, like when someone coughs or sneezes. You can also get it through “direct contact with blisters, saliva, or mucus of an infected person.” She confirms that for pregnant women, chickenpox “can cause quite serious health risks. In the mother, varicella pneumonia, encephalitis (a brain infection), or hepatitis (a liver infection) are possible adverse outcomes.”

Click HERE for the full story from POPSUGAR.