Thanks to the media’s publicity, the notoriety of HPV is now well known. However, many people seem to have gone to the other extreme, that is, when it comes to HPV infection, they feel like the enemy, they think they have cervical cancer, as if it is the end of the world. The question of whether or not you can get pregnant with HPV infection is even more unbelievable and unthinkable.
So, can a woman infected with HPV get pregnant or not? Dr. Wang Qing, chief physician of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University, is here today to answer your questions.
HPV infection is not the same as cervical cancer
First of all, for those women who have been tested for HPV infection, calm down, you are still far from having cervical cancer! Don’t scare yourself!
HPV stands for Human Papilloma Virus, and the most common mode of transmission is sexual transmission. Some data show that more than 70% of women who have sex have had HPV infection in their lifetime.
HPV is divided into low-risk subtypes and high-risk subtypes. Low-risk subtype HPV infection mainly leads to the growth of skin and mucosal warts, such as condyloma acuminata; high-risk subtype HPV infection mainly leads to the occurrence of cervical and vulvar cancer.
The majority of women with high-risk HPV infection have the virus cleared by the body’s immune system on its own within 2 years. Only a very small percentage of women will have persistent HPV infection.
Of this small percentage of women with persistent HPV infection, only a very small percentage will develop cervical, vaginal or vulvar cancer in the future.
Can I get pregnant if I have HPV? Hurry!
Women with persistent HPV infection have to go through a slow process if they are likely to develop cervical lesions in the future. In other words, precancerous lesions of the cervix will first develop into cervical cancer. The shortest time required for this is 7 to 10 years.
Therefore, if there are women infected with high-risk HPV virus, especially those infected with type 16 or 18, and if they are already married, then get pregnant and have children as soon as possible!
In fact, among pregnant women, there are also many who are HPV-DNA positive.
Annual gynecological checkups should not be skipped! Gynecological checkups are a matter of life and health, so you should not take the attitude that you can skip them. Annual gynecological checkups are recommended for women of age to detect and treat early cervical cancer in a timely manner.
In particular, a cervical cancer screening such as HPV and liquid-based cytology such as TCT or LCT should be done before pregnancy, so that if precancerous cervical lesions are found, they can be treated before pregnancy.
If there is a problem with the cervical cancer test, a colposcopy can be done to rule out cervical lesions.
If the test excludes the lesion and it is only a viral state, then it is perfectly acceptable to get pregnant and have a baby first.
Maternal HPV infection does not affect fetal development
HPV infection does not enter the human bloodstream and will not affect the development of the fetus or cause malformations during pregnancy. Please feel free to get pregnant.
Whereas it is possible for a baby to be infected with HPV at birth, many babies clear up on their own within two years or so of birth. HPV infection is mainly due to exposure to HPV-contaminated amniotic fluid.
We recommend that preconception testing should be done to check the condition of the cervix and to watch for screening for HPV infection.
If you did not have a cervical cancer screening before pregnancy, you can have a cervical cancer smear during your early pregnancy checkup.
Interestingly, although studies have shown that the probability of transmitting HPV by cesarean delivery is half that of a normal delivery, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists still recommends that, weighing all the benefits of a normal delivery and considering the high rate of newborns getting rid of HPV, there is no need to deliberately request a cesarean delivery for fear of HPV.