Someone mentioned MRSA in a different thread and I was wondering if anyone had heard of a mother transferring MRSA to their babies before or after their birth. I was told a couple of years ago that I had MRSA – I just had my boys in Sept and I’ve always wondered if there’s a chance of them getting it, carrying it, etc. They were 4 weeks early and didn’t spend anytime in the NICU, and (fingers crossed) haven’t had any type of sickness at all so there should be no other exposure. I had several rounds of antibiotics back with it was diagnosed, but haven’t had any “bumps” in a year. Anyone have any MRSA stories?
My daughter had MRSA in the NICU. The doctor said that because I had had a prior emergency surgery, I likely passed the bacteria to her at birth. (I am very skeptical, however, as there was another baby in the NICU with MRSA at the same time.) I guess that doesn't really answer your question, except that it seems from the comment that it is possible to pass the infection from mother to child. Hopefully, there is someone on here with better information. Good luck, Jenny
my oldest son had MRSA. We treated him as well as ourselves, and it has not returned. Neither of the babies have had it and I sure hope it stays that way. It's scary stuff! Reyna
My father caught MRSA while he was an inpatient in the hospital over the summer. I was pregnant at the time and was not allowed to see him. It is nasty stuff. He was supposed to be in the hospital for 5 days and wound up being in there for 3 weeks. I don't know too much about mother/baby MRSA transfer, I would definitely ask the pediatrician about that. Hope all is well!
I think I'm the one that mentioned MRSA in the other posting. We do not know where my girls picked up MRSA and my doctor never said the bumps under my arms were MRSA. According to my peditrician, MRSA staph infections result in boils, the lumps in my underarms were not boils. We believe one of the babies passed MRSA to the other baby because she had a boil on her bottom a month earlier that went away while she was on an antibiotic for a sinus infection. She then got it again and the other baby got one within day - Probably from using the same bath seats. Anyway, the ped also told me that MRSA is very common and most people have been exposed to it. Some people are just more succeptible to the infection. No one else in my family has gotten it so far and everyone was around them at Christmas. I really don't think you have anything to worry about if you haven't had any problems recently. I doubt your doctor will put you or them on anything either. Honestly, my ped wasn't overly concerned when they first got it - she just gave us Bactrim, a nasal ointment and told me to put a little bleach in their bath water. I even mentioned to her last week when the girls were back at the doctor's for ear infections that I had another staph infection. She gave the babies amoxicillan for their ear infections, but if she was concerned about MRSA, she would have given them Bactrim instead.
MRSA is a HOSPITAL ACQUIRED staph infection. It can infect your skin (wounds), nares, urine, blood, sputum, etc. It doesn't always appear as a skin lesion. While my girls were in the NICU, they were constantly swabbing their noses and bottoms for the infection. Thankfully they never contracted it.
My babies have not been in the hospital since they were born 10 months ago, neither have I. The twins were fullterm and did not spend any time in the NICU. MRSA is not just hospital acquired! Our state has had a major MRSA outbreak in the last 6 months - mostly in schools.
I contracted MRSA during my c-section in my uterus which later traveled to my vagina. Which resulted in me being in the ER two weeks after my girls were born. It was awful! I was on some very high powered antibiotics. I was told not to breast feed my girls, because they could contract it since it was in my body fluids
