Home/How can congenital syphilis affect my baby?

It can have major health impacts on your baby. How congenital syphilis affects your baby’s health depends on how long you had syphilis and if — or when — you got treatment for the infection.

Congenital syphilis can cause:

  • Miscarriage (losing the baby during pregnancy),
  • Stillbirth (a baby born dead),
  • Prematurity (a baby born early),
  • Low birth weight, or
  • Death shortly after birth.

Up to 40 percent of babies born to women with untreated syphilis may be stillborn or die from the infection as a newborn.

For babies born with congenital syphilis, it can cause:

  • Deformed bones,
  • Severe anemia (low blood count),
  • Enlarged liver and spleen,
  • Jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes),
  • Brain and nerve problems, like blindness or deafness,
  • Meningitis, and
  • Skin rashes.
2019-04-16T09:23:17-07:00
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