Are you pregnant? Here’s what you can do to protect your pregnancy if you don’t currently live in an area with Zika.
1. Avoid travel to an area with Zika.
- Until we know more, CDC recommends special precautions for pregnant women. Women who are pregnant should not travel to any area where Zika virus is spreading.
- If you must travel to one of these areas, talk to your doctor or other healthcare provider first and strictly followsteps to prevent mosquito bites during your trip.
2. Take steps to prevent mosquito bites.
- Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants.
- Stay in places with air conditioning and window and door screens to keep mosquitoes outside.
- Use Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered insect repellents. When used as directed, these insect repellents are proven safe and effective even for pregnant and breastfeeding women.
- Remove or stay away from mosquito breeding sites, like containers with standing water.
Entire Pregnancy: Couples should use a condom every time they have sex during the pregnancy if the male partner has or is at risk for Zika virus infection.
3. Take steps to prevent getting Zika through sex.
- Until more is known, pregnant women with male sex partners who have lived in or traveled to an area with Zika virus should either use a condom every time they have sex or not have sex during the pregnancy. To be effective, condoms must be used correctly (warning: this link contains sexually graphic images) from start to finish, every time during sex. This includes vaginal, anal, or oral (mouth-to-penis) sex or do not have sex during the pregnancy.
- If a pregnant woman is concerned that her male partner(s) may have or had Zika virus infection, she should talk to her doctor or other healthcare provider. She should tell her doctor or other healthcare provider about her male partner’s travel history, including how long he stayed, whether or not he took steps to prevent getting mosquito bites, and if she had sex with him without a condom since his return.
4. See a doctor or other healthcare provider
- Pregnant women who have recently traveled to an area with Zika should talk to a doctor or other healthcare provider about their travel even if they don’t feel sick.
- It is especially important that pregnant women see a doctor or other healthcare provider if they develop a fever, rash, joint pain, or red eyes during their trip or within 2 weeks after traveling to an area where Zika has been reported. They should tell the doctor or other healthcare provider where they traveled.
- CDC has guidance to help doctors decide what tests are needed for pregnant women who may have been exposed to Zika.