Pregnant? Then Get an STD Test, for God's Sake

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http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/05/pregnant_std_test.php

A lot of pregnant women don't get tested for sexually transmitted diseases. But a lot of pregnant need to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases, according to just released Centers for Disease Control stats.
Out of some 1.3 million American women who had blood work during pregnancy, only 59 percent got tested for chlamydia, Reuters reports on the findings.

Obvs, when you've got a bun in the oven, your health doesn't just impact you: chlamydia, as well as other STDs, can complicate pregnancies and get transmitted to newborns.

The CDC recs that all pregnant women get screened for chlamydia and gonorrhea, both of which can be symptomless. Testing stats for the latter, though, are just as disappointing: only 57 percent of of pregnant women in the U.S. said they were examined for this infection (though that proportion is higher in some age groups.)


Here's what can happen if you don't get tested: chlamydia can cause pneumonia in newborns "while gonorrhea can lead to joint infections." They can also be super dangerous in the earliest stages of pregnancy. Both infections can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, sometimes prompting the fertilized egg to grow "outside the uterus."