by Kyra M.
Parenthood is something many children dream about at a young age. A healthy family is something I assume everyone would ask for. But no one imagines having their child admitted to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). But if it happens, and it happen pretty often, some admitted newborns are there because of something that could have been prevented, something that could have been controlled. Imagine walking through a NICU and seeing a child no more than 5 days old, with tubes and needles surrounding it. Imagine seeing that child have test after test run on them; imagine how sickly that very child would look. All because of STD’s. A fetus or newborn baby can contract an STD, in multiple ways, all in which have to do with the mother.
A sexually transmitted disease or STD is passed on to someone once they have unprotected intercourse or oral sex with someone who is infected. You may be pondering how in fact does a fetus contract an STD that is in its mothers womb. Well the process is freakishly simple and not the slightest bit perplexing. Have you ever wanted to be a mother? Do you know anyone who is pregnant or attempting to conceive? Are you a female living with an STD? If you answered yes to any of these questions, continue to read and maybe you can protect your child or a child you know from a life damaging and/or threatening predicament.
19 million people in the United States are infected by an STD and/or STI each year. Some in which belong to women who are expecting. Each and everyday, at any given time a baby is born and brought into the world. It is said that no love conquers the love that a mother possesses for her child. Yet activities that a mother does, even before her pregnancy can drastically effect her unborn or newborn child.
A mother that has contracted an STD or STI puts her child at risk to also contract this same life threatening disease/infection; not only is the infant at risk for the disease but they can suffer from other complications. Just to think that a child who is in the womb can be infected or possibly killed by something they had no control over is extremely heart wrenching. It is imperative that everyone is aware of the drastic tolls STD’s or STI’S can take on the well-being of not only them but on a fetus or infant. According to the National Institute of Health, mothers who are infected by a STD's and/or STI's are at risk to have a miscarriage, preterm delivery, ectopic pregnancy (the embryo implants outside of the uterus), low birth weight, and birth defects (such as blindness, deafness, bone deformities and intellectual disability, stillbirth, infertility, and illness in the first month of life or death as a newborn.)
I, myself do not have an STD. But I feel like its important that everyone knows that STD's do NOT just affect them and them only. While it is obvious that a mother can pass her STD to her child, I just wanted to be that little reminder. I feel like being born with an STD is a big disadvantage to any child. That forces them to live a life with adult problems when they are just a kid trying to do kid like things. I could not imagine all the treatment and doctor check-ups required when you have an STD. Not to mention that some STD's do cause death. Isn't ironic that a baby is born to start a life but can have that life ended early do to something preventable. I've never really given this topic much thought, until I began to research and write more about it. I just knew I wanted to write about something that Neonatologist deal with. Then I started thinking, "Well, what are some of the reasons a baby would be in the NICU?" And that's how I stumbled across this topic; but now that I have done my research and really gave it some thought, I see how serious this is. This problem only inspires me to chase my neonatologist dream a little more.
I, myself do not have an STD. But I feel like its important that everyone knows that STD's do NOT just affect them and them only. While it is obvious that a mother can pass her STD to her child, I just wanted to be that little reminder. I feel like being born with an STD is a big disadvantage to any child. That forces them to live a life with adult problems when they are just a kid trying to do kid like things. I could not imagine all the treatment and doctor check-ups required when you have an STD. Not to mention that some STD's do cause death. Isn't ironic that a baby is born to start a life but can have that life ended early do to something preventable. I've never really given this topic much thought, until I began to research and write more about it. I just knew I wanted to write about something that Neonatologist deal with. Then I started thinking, "Well, what are some of the reasons a baby would be in the NICU?" And that's how I stumbled across this topic; but now that I have done my research and really gave it some thought, I see how serious this is. This problem only inspires me to chase my neonatologist dream a little more.
Works Cited
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17 Nov. 2011. Web. 29 July 2014.
"How Do Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STDs/STIs) Affect Pregnancy?" How Do Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STDs/STIs) Affect Pregnancy? Web. 29 July 2014.
"The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)." The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Web. 27 July 2014.
"Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases." WebMD. WebMD. Web. 26 July 2014.
"Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and Pregnancy | APA on STDs." American Pregnancy Association. Web. 29 July 2014.
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