Should pregnant women with hepatitis B have amniocentesis?

The article is professionally consulted by Master, Doctor Trinh Thi Thanh Huyen - Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology - Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital.

Amniocentesis is a prenatal screening procedure. To obtain a sample of amniotic fluid and tissue samples, this procedure requires penetrating deep inside the uterus.
When the pregnancy is over 16 weeks, an amniocentesis may be indicated. Using a fine needle, amniotic fluid is drawn through the abdominal wall under ultrasound guidance.
Amniocentesis will reveal genetic problems before birth, and from there, after the baby is born, parents have an appropriate care and treatment plan, avoiding panic and confusion. . Some conditions can be treated before the baby is born.

The HBV virus is the cause of hepatitis B. The disease is not too dangerous for the average person, however, for pregnant women with hepatitis B, there is a high risk of transmitting the infection to the baby.
The presence of HBsAg characterizes acute HBV infection. The patient was also seropositive for viral e antigen (HBeAg) in the early stages of the disease.
HBeAg is usually a sign that the virus has replicated. The presence of HBeAg indicates that an infected person's blood and body fluids are highly infectious. Persistence of HBsAg for at least 6 months characterizes chronic infection. Patients are at risk of developing chronic liver disease and liver cancer if HBsAg is persistent.

The most common cause of jaundice during pregnancy is acute viral hepatitis. During the acute phase of infection, most cases will not show any symptoms, however, some may show signs of disease, such as jaundice, urine with urine. dark color, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain and fatigue. Patients with acute hepatitis can progress to acute liver failure, however, this is quite rare. Acute HBV infection is usually not serious for the pregnant woman and is not associated with malformations or mortality. Therefore, there is no need to terminate a pregnancy when you are infected with HBV during pregnancy.
In the absence of advanced liver disease, pregnant women with chronic hepatitis B infection are generally well tolerated, although hepatitis B flares may be present. There are currently no definitive studies. The impact of HBV on pregnancy outcomes.
Many pregnant women with hepatitis B are concerned that amniocentesis will make their babies infected? Is that true in reality?
In fact, after amniocentesis, the risk of transmitting the virus from mother to child is quite low. However, this procedure may increase the risk of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B if the HBV DNA viral load is > 7log10 copies/ml (more than 10 million copies/ml). Therefore, before deciding whether to have amniocentesis, you need to consult with your doctor carefully.
The baby will be vaccinated after birth if the test results show that you are positive for the hepatitis B virus. If the virus level in your blood is high, you will be prescribed certain medicines to control the disease

Thus, it can be seen that the risk of HBV transmission after amniocentesis is low, however, performing amniocentesis in pregnant women with a viral load above 10 million copies/ml is a factor that increases the risk of transmission. HBV. Therefore, amniocentesis should be avoided when the HBV viral load is above 10 million copies/ml in pregnant women.
Vinmec International General Hospital offers a Package Maternity Care Program for pregnant women right from the first months of pregnancy with a full range of antenatal care visits, periodical 3D and 4D ultrasounds and routine tests to ensure that the mother is healthy and the fetus is developing comprehensively.
Pregnant women will be consulted and checked for health under the close supervision of experienced and specialized Obstetricians, helping mothers have more knowledge to protect their health during pregnancy as well as reduce reduce complications for mother and child.