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STD testing recommended for pregnant women

Posted at 9:22 AM, Apr 25, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-25 09:22:49-04

The Michigan Department of Health is urging pregnant mothers to get tested for STDs.

Many infections that can occur in pregnant women can also affect a newborn baby, but transmission can be prevented with proper testing.

Doctors recommend that pregnant women get tested for HIV, Hepatitis B and Syphilis at their first prenatal visit, and then again between 26 and 28 weeks.

Testing is important because many people don't show symptoms of those infections.

In the past five years, Michigan has had three preventable cases of prenatal hepatitis b, three cases on congenital syphilis and three babies born with HIV.