Anyone else terrified of catching CMV??

Hi All, My first post!! Have only just found this forum and it's great! I would rally appreciate anyone's views on this. I had my 20 app with the doctor and she decides to start chatting about CMV and how critical hygiene is around my DS who is 21 months. TBH I had never heard of it and ask her for some more detail and she completely freaked me out about how crucial handwashing is after changing nappies. Now, it's not as if I'm unhygienic (!) but there definitely hae been the odd occasion where I probably just wiped my hands with baby wipes after changing or got waylaid on the way to the sink to wash my hands. The doc was all dooom and gloom about CMV and how catastrophic it is for the unborn baby and I ended up leaving the app tearing up. Any views on this would be much appreciated. I'm pretty freaked out that I've put the babs in harms way and I feel really stupid for not knowing more on this Thanks for reading xox

I just don't understand some GPs, they seem to have no understanding of treating people like human beings with feelings! Firstly don't feel badly or scared. What you are doing is abolutely fine. You don't have to go bleaching your house top to bottom now. I have never heard of CMV either and without googling I wouldn't have the faintest, it is not a common concern, otherwise it would be advised routinely to all pregnant women and I have been through it 3 times 2 different countries and hospitals and consultants and GPs, and none of them ever raised CMV as a concern. Good hygene is of course good for various other reasons, so if it helps you feel better I would just use an alcoholic rub/gel when you don't get the chance to wash your hands.

Crikey! That doctor must just have been reading about it for some reason or something. I wouldn't worry overly, I never heard of it before either and one thing I took from googling it was, it doesn't live at all long outside the human body, so even a little bit of laxness on the handwashing is unlikely to have put you at risk. Unless you were changing the nappy and then immediately went preparing food or putting your hands in your mouth the baby wipes were probably good enough. I imagine if you had gone to make food straight away you would definitely have washed hands anyway. Now that you have been made aware of it I'm sure you will just wash your hands every time, but do try not to worry. I would say there is a reasonable chance you have already been in contact with it and carry it already. Usually with these things the danger is with an active infection during pregnancy, but even then only 1 baby in 1000 will have adverse effects from it.

HI girls, Thanks a million for the replies. I hope I don;t sound like someone really dirty who never washed her hands! But the GP made me think back to all the times I had done a nappy change on the run etc etc and the next thing I know I'm convinced I was practically licking them!! I really wish she hadn;t brought it up - I'd be a much happy camper today. From what I've found on the web apparently it's in saliva aswell and pregnant women aren't advised to share utensils or kiss a baby on the face which sounds mad to me - I often give DS a spoon of my dinner or test the temperature of his etc. Just can't believe I've never heard of it. Then I could have been a bit more vigilant. Anyway, thanks for the replies, xox