Default Style Register
Daycare.com Forum
Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Pregnant and So Paranoid about CMV
Kidsnest 12:26 PM 09-25-2018
Hello, I’ve found out recently that I’m pregnant. 😁 I have been running my own in home Daycare for nearly 5 years now. I’m insanely worried about CMV. It is spread by bodily fluids which I’m sure if you’re a daycare provider you know we come in contact with a lot. I do wash my hands after changing, feeding, wiping noses... but there’s only so much you can do. I mean kids sneeze, kids touch everything, there’s bound to be saliva nearly everywhere. My hands are literally cracking and bleeding from washing so much. And I’m soooo worried it’s driving me bonkers. Anyone with any input to make me feel any better?! Thank you!
Reply
Cat Herder 12:35 PM 09-25-2018
The best advice I know is: Gloves for BM's, don't touch your face and maintain healthy intact skin.

You are already doing the handwashing.
Reply
MarinaVanessa 12:42 PM 09-25-2018
The way I see it is that unless you plan on staying indoors and away from contact from all people there's no way to 100% guarantee that you may not get it.

Since you're doing home daycare consider that you probably have a low number of kids (no more than 8 perhaps?). You may be thinking about it as 8 opportunities for it to come into your home ... realistically you will come in contact with people and/or their germs through touch, speaking, breathing near them on a pretty typical and regular basis like at the grocery store, restaurant, retail stores, auto shop, religious buildings, parks, family gatherings, holiday gatherings etc.

Even your DH or SO can bring something in from contact with coworkers, their families etc. As long as you routinely wash your hands, don't put your hands in your mouth, and keep the space relatively clean you should be fine.
PS if your hands are cracking and bleeding you are washing your hands too much or washing them too roughly. Ask your doctor to recommend a good hand moisturizer to apply after hand washing to help with the dryness and be kinder to yourself . I'd also talk to your OB about your concerns and about how your concerns are affecting you emotionally and physically to see if there is anything else you can do to help prevent it and other communicable diseases/chance of getting it.

And CONGRATULATIONS!! Enjoy this time with your little nugget. I LOVED being pregnant, I hope you will too
Reply
hwichlaz 12:48 PM 09-25-2018
What's CMV ? I've never heard of it, no OB ever mentioned it.....
Reply
BrynleeJean 12:56 PM 09-25-2018
IDK why but i was like the healthiest i ever have been when i was pregnant.
relax and know your body knows what its doing? that what i did
so i guess to make you feel better id say i ran my first home daycare with my first pregnancy. He is healthy as an ox and has green eyes, when both of us have brown
with my second pregnancy id already closed my daycare for other reasons, but a few months in went to work at a center for about 4 months during FLU season! i was a floater/sub and subbed for ever teacher that got the flu with was like every single one and half the kids it seemed were out with one type of flu or the other or both. it got absurd and i got nervous my DS was going to get it so i left eventually but i never once got the flu
I used gloves, washed my hands didnt over sanitize, and just tried not to worry, and got lots of rest. some days i practically acted like i was on bedrest
i know they say your immune system is low or bad when your prego, but id like to think that my body held onto all that immunity stuff for me and those babies at the time because now I'm nursing and boy does it feel like my DD is just sucking the immunity right out of me!
Reply
Cat Herder 01:09 PM 09-25-2018
Originally Posted by hwichlaz:
What's CMV ? I've never heard of it, no OB ever mentioned it.....
https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infect...pregnancy.aspx
Reply
Baby Beluga 04:13 PM 09-25-2018
Just thinking out loud...

Humans are the only source of CMV. The virus is found in urine, saliva, nasal mucous, breast milk, vaginal secretions and semen of infected people.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common virus in the herpes​ virus family. Fifty per cent people have been infected by young adulthood and up to 85 per cent by 40 years of age.

So if most adults have CMV, aren't breastfeeding mothers passing it on to baby anyway?
Reply
Cat Herder 03:48 AM 09-26-2018
Originally Posted by Baby Beluga:
Just thinking out loud...
]

So if most adults have CMV, aren't breastfeeding mothers passing it on to baby anyway?
The biggest risk is from side effects that occur in utero. For everyone else it is a mild or unnoticed illness.

"Infected babies may, but not always, be born with a disability.

The highest risk to the unborn baby occurs when a woman who has never had CMV before is infected with the virus for the first time during pregnancy (primary CMV infection) and when infection occurs during the first half of the pregnancy. Infection during one pregnancy does not increase the risk for subsequent pregnancies. However, if primary infection occurs, consideration should be given to waiting for at least 12 months before becoming pregnant again.

Studies in Australia have shown that out of 1,000 live births, about 6 infants will have congenital CMV infection and 1-2 of those 6 infants (about 1 in 1000 infants overall) will have permanent disabilities of varying degree. These can include hearing loss, vision loss, small head size, cerebral palsy, developmental delay or intellectual disability, and in rare cases, death.

Sometimes, the virus may reactivate while a woman is pregnant but reactivation does not usually cause problems to the woman or her unborn baby."
Reply
LittleScholars 08:59 AM 09-26-2018
Originally Posted by Kidsnest:
Hello, I’ve found out recently that I’m pregnant. 😁 I have been running my own in home Daycare for nearly 5 years now. I’m insanely worried about CMV. It is spread by bodily fluids which I’m sure if you’re a daycare provider you know we come in contact with a lot. I do wash my hands after changing, feeding, wiping noses... but there’s only so much you can do. I mean kids sneeze, kids touch everything, there’s bound to be saliva nearly everywhere. My hands are literally cracking and bleeding from washing so much. And I’m soooo worried it’s driving me bonkers. Anyone with any input to make me feel any better?! Thank you!
I'm on my second daycare pregnancy (due any day now), and I remind myself that moms of multiple kiddos are constantly exposing themselves to things that their other kiddos bring home. There really is no way to live in a bubble. We can only practice good hygiene, have strong illness policies (and enforce them), and take extra good care of ourselves while pregnant.

I was a crazy person with my first pregnancy, but with this one I have a snotty, germy 20 month old that will be by my side, so it makes me much more realistic about how much we can control.

Best of luck to you!
Reply
Baby Beluga 09:09 AM 09-26-2018
Originally Posted by Cat Herder:
The biggest risk is from side effects that occur in utero. For everyone else it is a mild or unnoticed illness.

"Infected babies may, but not always, be born with a disability.

The highest risk to the unborn baby occurs when a woman who has never had CMV before is infected with the virus for the first time during pregnancy (primary CMV infection) and when infection occurs during the first half of the pregnancy. Infection during one pregnancy does not increase the risk for subsequent pregnancies. However, if primary infection occurs, consideration should be given to waiting for at least 12 months before becoming pregnant again.

Studies in Australia have shown that out of 1,000 live births, about 6 infants will have congenital CMV infection and 1-2 of those 6 infants (about 1 in 1000 infants overall) will have permanent disabilities of varying degree. These can include hearing loss, vision loss, small head size, cerebral palsy, developmental delay or intellectual disability, and in rare cases, death.

Sometimes, the virus may reactivate while a woman is pregnant but reactivation does not usually cause problems to the woman or her unborn baby."
I see, that makes sense!
Reply
Cat Herder 09:52 AM 09-26-2018
"Female childcare or school workers who expect to become pregnant should consider being tested for antibodies to CMV. If antibody testing shows that the woman has not had CMV, she should be aware of CMV, its potential risks, and prevention and control recommendations for avoiding occupationally acquired infection."

Just found this, too. I thought I remembered a blood test, but could not remember what it was. It's been a while since I was TTC.
Reply
Ariana 10:20 AM 09-26-2018
I got a blood test to see if I had the antibodies. Easy peasy. My DR had no clue what Cytomegalovirus was so that was interesting. He asked me if I had a lot of cats?! I think he was mixed up with something else. Anyway I asked him to check for CMV antibodies and I had them.

If you have been around kids for any length of time you likely had it and are safe from it. It is so easily passed that most people are immune.
Reply
Tags:cmv, cytomegalovirus, herpes, pregnant - and running daycare
Reply Up