Pregnant women with hepatitis C are often confused because they don’t know if the hepatitis C virus can be transmitted to her baby! Mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis C does occur, but it is not genetic. The risk of transmission of hepatitis C virus to the newborn from an anti-HCV-positive mother is only 2%, which is about the same as the chance of infection with effective mother-to-child interruption of hepatitis B. The risk of transmission can range from 4% to 7% if the mother is positive for hepatitis C virus nucleic acid (HCVRNA) at the time of delivery; the risk increases to 20% if the mother is co-infected with HIV. high HCVRNA load may increase the risk of transmission.