A very motivated mother contacted me prenatally on the advice of her Doula
to discuss strategies to get breastfeeding off to a good start. That was the
good news and we had a lovely talk about a month ago.
Yesterday she calls : She came down with shingles 18 days ago. It started on
her chest area ,and covers parts of her left breast. More active lesions
followed a few days later which cover an area of her back. The last
suspected lesion occured 10 days ago on her back.  She is now at 40 weeks
gestation and still has many spots. After checking several texts, I expect
that she can breastfeed her baby on the unaffected side as long as the
lesions are covered from any contact with the baby. The BAB says to treat
like herpes but the info isn't specific for the perinatal period.
Her husband is in the process of blood tests to confirm his status since
it's unknown whether he had Chicken Pox as a child. The MD is concerned if
Dad breaks out when Baby is in the 1st 3 weeks. No one has told her if she
can or can't breastfeed after the birth.

Her concern is, could she have a new crop of lesions flare up at this later
date? Could this affect the baby? Is it true that the baby will have
received some immunity from chicken pox from the mother in utero? Will the
baby be ill at birth?
Both parents have numerous  atopic allergies and want to avoid formula if
possible. Other health issue during pregnancy was recurring bladder
infections that have been treated with a few courses of antibiotics. We
talked about yeast prevention.
Care is being taken to lessen chance of stimulating labour to allow as much
time to pass as possible.  Any answers out there on how to handle this? Thanks.

Anne Kirkham IBCLC