This sheet is about paternal exposures in a pregnancy and while breastfeeding. This information should not take the place of medical care and advice from your healthcare provider. What is a “paternal exposure”? A paternal exposure is anything a male parent or sperm donor is exposed to before a pregnancy is conceived, while trying to conceive pregnancy, or after their partner is pregnant. This includes things such as substances of use (alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, opioid misuse), …
The Baby Blog: Cancer
HPV Vaccine
This sheet is about exposure to the HPV vaccine in pregnancy and while breastfeeding. This information should not take the place of medical care and advice from your healthcare providers. What is HPV? Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common infection that is transmitted by skin-to-skin sexual contact. HPV is not just one virus. There are over 200 different kinds of HPV. It is thought that at least half of all people who are sexually active have been exposed to at least one type of …
Methotrexate
This sheet is about exposure to methotrexate in pregnancy and while breastfeeding. This information should not take the place of medical care and advice from your healthcare provider. What is methotrexate? Methotrexate is a medication that can stop the growth of cells and can interfere with the immune system (the system the body uses to fight off infections). Methotrexate is prescribed to treat many conditions, including cancer and autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis …
Thalidomide
This sheet is about exposure to thalidomide in pregnancy and while breastfeeding. This information should not take the place of medical care and advice from your healthcare provider. What is thalidomide? Thalidomide is a medication that changes the body's immune response and lowers the ability of the body to grow new blood vessels. Thalidomide was introduced in Germany and other countries in Europe and other continents in the 1960s as a sedative. It is one of the first medications known to …
Chemotherapy
This sheet is about exposure to chemotherapy in pregnancy and while breastfeeding. This information should not take the place of medical care and advice from your healthcare provider. What is chemotherapy? Chemotherapy (also called chemo) is a term that describes the use of medication to treat or control cancer by killing cancer cells. It is one of the most widely used methods to treat cancer, along with surgery and radiation treatment (radiotherapy). Sometimes other conditions, such …
