Pre Pregnancy Rubella Check

Something I found out after a trip to my GP was that if you are planning to become pregnant, it’s worth getting a test done to check if you are immunised against Rubella. Rubella (also known as German measles) is generally a short term illness but for a pregnant woman can cause harm to her unborn child if passed on.

Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) can develop – particularly in the first trimester. This can cause defects with your babies eyes, ears and heart – such as cataracts, hearing impairment and heart disease. There is also a greater risk of miscarriage and stillbirth.

This information was provided in a few printed out information sheets from my doctor. The advice they offer is to check that your Rubella vaccine is up to date. While you should have been vaccinated as a youngster/child (MMR for the last 20 years or so), there is a small chance that your body is not immunised as it hasn’t made enough antibodies for the Rubella virus – and you are not protected. There may be various reasons for this so better to get it checked out if you are planning to start a family soon.

I called my Doctors surgery and they are checking with my Doctor and will let me know next steps. They said I may need a blood test to check for Rubella. I will update this post when I find out more!

Update: Yep, I was given a blood test form that had “Rubella: Immunisation check” on it. Off to the hospital for me then!

Update: I received my blood tests results yesterday which shows Rubella IgG Detected. This means I have rubella antibodies and therefore have immunity to rubella (which is a good thing and what we want to see). If rubella antibodies were not detected, the Doctor would have recommended a vaccine before becoming pregnant. I also heard that you should avoid getting pregnant for a month after you’ve had the vaccine.

I hope this is helpful – it’s certainly taken a worry off of my mind.