Trigger Warning: This post contains images of a shingles rash. If you are sensitive to such images, please proceed with caution.
Mommies, I gave birth to my baby on June 7, 2024. Almost a week later, on June 13, 2024, I started feeling a burning sensation beside my belly button. When I looked in the mirror, I saw red blisters. I showed my hubby the area and said it was similar to what he had experienced in college. He suggested that I see a doctor because it might be shingles, a viral infection. Worried about passing it to our newborn baby, I visited an internist-infectious disease specialist the next day. Dr. Samantha Bartolo confirmed that it was indeed herpes zoster. She even asked if I had had chickenpox before, which I did. She further explained that the virus that caused chickenpox can reactivate causing shingles.
I cried so hard because, unfortunately, there's no cure for shingles, and there's no vaccine for newborn babies that can fight the varicella-zoster virus, which causes shingles. I kept worrying that my newborn baby was at risk because of me. Thankfully, there's an early treatment with prescription antiviral drugs like Acyclovir (Zovirax) that helped speed healing and lowered the risk of complications. What truly eased my worry about breastfeeding our child was using a DuoDERM patch to avoid contact between our baby's skin and my shingles blisters, as seen in the photos.
So, mommies, AVOID STRESS, as it can trigger the varicella-zoster virus in your nerve cells.