Some infections need extra attention during pregnancy because they can affect you, your baby or the care you need around birth. Many are treatable, and screening can find some infections before symptoms appear.
Practical precautions can lower risk, but they cannot prevent every infection. Getting an infection is not a personal failure. The useful next step is timely advice, testing and treatment when needed.
When to seek urgent care
Contact your doctor or maternity team promptly if you have fever, chills, pain when passing urine, a new rash, flu-like illness or a suspected infection. Seek urgent assessment if you also have abdominal or back/flank pain, persistent vomiting, leaking waters, unusual or foul-smelling discharge, or feel significantly unwell.
Call 000 for severe breathing difficulty, collapse, confusion or rapidly worsening serious illness. Sepsis is a dangerous response to infection and needs urgent hospital treatment. It can occur during pregnancy and after birth.
Reduced, weaker or concerningly changed baby movements need immediate maternity assessment, whether or not you have a fever. Do not wait for a home remedy or use a Doppler to reassure yourself.
Testing is part of routine antenatal care
Your team will offer tests for infections such as hepatitis B, HIV and syphilis, with other tests based on your history and circumstances. A urine test may find bacteria even when you have no urinary symptoms. Ask what is being tested, when you will get results and who will arrange treatment or follow-up.
Current Australian STI guidance recommends syphilis testing at the first antenatal visit, at 26–28 weeks, and at 36 weeks or birth, whichever comes first. Extra testing may be recommended after an exposure or according to local risk and guidance. An earlier negative result does not rule out a later infection.
Our prenatal tests guide explains routine testing and informed choices.
Urinary and vaginal symptoms
Urinary tract infections: burning when you wee, urgency or lower abdominal discomfort need assessment. Fever, chills or back/flank pain can indicate a kidney infection and need urgent care. Your clinician will choose pregnancy-suitable treatment and may arrange a follow-up urine test.
Thrush and bacterial vaginosis: itching, soreness or a change in discharge can have different causes. Thrush is caused by yeast, not bacteria. Bacterial vaginosis involves a change in the balance of vaginal bacteria. Symptoms can overlap with other infections, so ask for an assessment rather than diagnosing by appearance alone.
Check any over-the-counter treatment with a pharmacist or clinician and mention your pregnancy. Avoid vaginal douching and inserting unadvised home remedies. A watery leak could be your waters rather than an infection or ordinary discharge; contact your maternity unit immediately if you are unsure.
Sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections
Some infections cause no obvious symptoms. Testing and treatment can reduce the chance of complications and transmission to your baby. Condoms and other barrier protection reduce the risk of many sexually transmitted infections, but do not replace screening.
If you have a new exposure, genital sores or a partner diagnosed with an infection, contact your clinician promptly. Partners may also need testing or treatment to prevent reinfection. You can ask for a private, non-judgemental conversation.
Hepatitis B or HIV in pregnancy needs a coordinated specialist plan. For hepatitis B, this can include care for the pregnant person and prompt vaccination plus hepatitis B immunoglobulin for an exposed newborn. The baby’s later vaccines and testing remain important. Your team will explain the plan rather than relying on a single injection to provide complete protection.
Group B streptococcus around birth
GBS is a bacterium that some people carry without being ill. It is not a sign of poor hygiene. A small number of babies exposed around birth develop serious infection.
Depending on local practice, you may be offered a vaginal and rectal swab around 35–37 weeks, or your care may use a risk-based approach. Antibiotics during labour may be recommended based on the result and other factors. Ask what your maternity service does and make sure the birth team knows about relevant results, including GBS found in urine or a previous baby with GBS infection.
Respiratory viruses and vaccination
Influenza and COVID-19 can cause more serious illness during pregnancy. Seek advice early if you develop flu-like symptoms or test positive and feel unwell; treatment decisions can be time-sensitive.
Australian pregnancy vaccination recommendations include influenza, whooping cough and RSV vaccination. Timing differs between vaccines, so ask your team to make a plan using current guidance. Ask whether a COVID-19 dose is recommended for your circumstances too.
Some live vaccines, such as rubella and chickenpox vaccines, are usually given before pregnancy or afterwards rather than during pregnancy. If you have been exposed to chickenpox, rubella, measles or parvovirus B19 (slapped cheek), contact your clinician promptly even if you feel well. Do not wait for a rash. Call ahead before attending a clinic if you may have a contagious illness.
CMV: small changes when caring for young children
Cytomegalovirus can pass through body fluids, including saliva and urine. Young children may carry it without seeming sick. Infection during pregnancy can sometimes affect the baby.
Wash your hands after nappy changes or wiping a child’s nose, avoid sharing food, drinks and utensils, and avoid kissing young children on the lips. You can still cuddle, play and be close. These habits reduce exposure; they do not remove every risk.
Talk to your maternity team if there is a concern about CMV exposure or infection. Testing and any treatment decisions need specialist interpretation. Do not assume that every exposure means the baby is infected.
Food, soil, animals and travel
Food safety helps reduce infections such as listeriosis and toxoplasmosis. Wash hands and produce, keep raw and cooked foods separate, cook meat and eggs thoroughly, and follow pregnancy-specific storage and food guidance. Pasteurisation alone does not make every chilled ready-to-eat food low risk.
Use our pregnancy food-safety guide and the NSW Food Authority’s current advice for specific foods.
Wear gloves for gardening and wash hands afterwards. Ask someone else to handle cat litter if possible; if you must do it, use gloves and wash your hands well. Avoid direct contact with animal droppings. If animal care, pests or workplace exposure concerns you, ask for advice appropriate to that setting.
Before overseas travel, discuss your destination and pregnancy with a travel-health clinician. Infection risks, including mosquito-borne infections such as Zika, and advice about sexual transmission can change. Use current destination advice and ask about both your travel and your partner’s travel.
If you are given treatment
Ask what the medicine is for, how to take it and whether follow-up tests are needed. Do not use leftover antibiotics or stop prescribed treatment without advice. Contact the prescriber if side effects or vomiting make it difficult to take.
Keep the follow-up plan even if you feel better. If symptoms worsen or you cannot reach your team for an urgent concern, seek hospital assessment.
Sources and further reading
- Australian STI Management Guidelines: Pregnancy
- Australian Immunisation Handbook: Pregnancy
- NSW Health: Maternal sepsis
- NSW Health: CMV and pregnancy
- NSW Food Authority: Pregnancy and food safety
This is general information for Australian readers. Your clinician can advise on a particular infection, exposure or treatment.