Why Women Are More Susceptible Genital to Warts During Pregnancy

The thousand dollar question is, why are women who are pregnant more susceptible to developing genital warts than if they weren’t pregnant? It’s a simple reason really and one that bears further looking into if you don’t know it. So it’s a good thing that I’m on hand to help you with the necessary information! The reasons behind it, are all down to the immune system.

When a woman is pregnant the fetus contains the mother’s antigens, and also the father’s antigens. And since your immune system will normally attack anything that is foreign ion your body, there is the chance that it can also attack the fetus. This is obviously not a good thing, so to deal with this potential problem, the immune system lowers its barriers. This in turn allows the fetus to grow within the womb, free from harm by the immune system.

If you think about your immune system like a guard dog, then in effect you’re what your body is doing when confronted with a fetus containing foreign substances, is to reign in the guard dog and make it lower it’s defenses. What this reduced patrolling of your body by your immune system means, is that there are more chances for sneaky thieves like the genital warts infection to get past your barriers.

This is why a woman who is pregnant is more susceptible to developing genital warts, than a woman who is not. Even if a pregnant woman has genital warts, a cesarean section (c-section) is not recommended most of the time. Only in the most difficult of cases will a c-section be recommended. This is because a c-section can pose more risks for both the baby and the mother than a normal vaginal birthing can, besides which the instances where the genital warts infection is passed on to the newborn are very rare. Only if the genital warts have become overly large and pose a problem to the birthing process will a c-section be considered.

Treatment options for genital warts change to a great degree when a woman is pregnant. Most of the topical creams and ointments that are used by other people are not recommended. In fact they are cautioned against using these as some of the drugs present in these treatments may pose a problem to the unborn baby. The drugs can in some cases be absorbed easily into the mother’s body and can pass on to the fetus. This can in turn, cause disfigurement in some cases, and with some drugs (both prescription and natural), it can cause an early labor.

Some of the treatment options for genital warts during pregnancy include, Cryosurgery, Laser surgery, Trichloracetic Acid, Bichloracetic Acid, LEEP, Electrocautery, and Surgical Excision