I remember the first time I held my baby boy, and knowing…
my whole world was gonna change!
What I didn’t know...was that it was gonna change 3 more times!
But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Now, between balancing my career…my family…and still being me...let me tell you, it can be a lot.
They’re still very much so, both of them, enamored with my boobs.
My babies still have a whole lot of growing to do, though.
And I am here for it!
And as a woman of color, I know how important it is to empower our communities with knowledge.
So let me share with you what I’m learning along the way.
I had never heard of CMV.
I was so shocked to know that there was something that was so infectious that so many babies were getting–
I have four kids!
And knew nothing about it, until now.
CMV is a herpes virus. It's not a respiratory virus.
So the way that a woman would be exposed, or anybody, is through human-to-human contact,
such as with saliva, or urine, or other bodily fluids.
A healthy adult may not even know they've been exposed to CMV,
or they might have some cold-like symptoms, but for most of us, it's a non-event in our lives
and we're not even aware.
According to the CDC, over 50% of U.S. adults will have a CMV infection by the time they’re 40.
Look, I’m 41.
I don't know if I had it or not, but the people that SHOULD know about it are my pregnant women out there.
Because one in 200 babies in the United States are born with a congenital CMV infection.
Let me do the math for you there.
That's about 30,000 children every year.
And on top of that, CMV infections are higher in black infants than in white infants.
As a Black mom to four beautiful Black babies, I feel like I need to do what I can to help spread the word.
And as Black women and Black moms, we know we have to advocate for our health and the health of our children.
So we have to do everything in our power to lower the risk of CMV infections.
A baby can get the virus from the mom.
So the virus crosses the placenta, not all the time, but when it does, then the baby can have fetal infection
and can even have some damage due to that virus while they're in utero, while they're inside the mom.
So not every pregnant person with a CMV infection will pass it to their child in utero.
But of the babies born with congenital CMV, about 1 in 5 will have long-term health issues.
And the reality is—there’s a pretty big range when it comes to their symptoms.
It may cause some brain damage, we might have intracranial calcification,
that seeing the baby may be microcephalic, meaning it has a small head when the baby is born,
something is not right with the baby.
But then other babies who we’ve seen, they may just end up with their rash at birth,
they may have like a little bit of jaundice—kind of yellowing of the skin—
they may have an enlarged spleen or liver, they may have elevated liver enzymes—
something that triggers the doctor to go, "Oh, we need to check this out on this newborn baby."
So on one end of the spectrum a baby is born with some obvious signs that there was an infection.
But on the other end?
The vast majority of infants when they're born are probably about 90%.
They look like normal, healthy babies.
They're in the well-baby nursery, they go home after two days,
they don't have any problems at that point due to CMV that are detectable.
Even though if we tested them, we would find out they had CMV.
I’ve learned that the most common symptom doesn’t always show up right away.
I think probably the most common symptom is hearing loss.
So actually, after genetic causes, CMV is probably the second leading cause of permanent hearing loss in children.
Other signs to look out for are potential issues with your infant's vision, and/or delays in the development of their motor skills.
Now I’m not trying to scare you,
but I am trying to pass this info along because according to the National CMV Foundation,
even though it’s the leading infection among infants,
only 9% percent of women are actually aware of it.
So to be certain that it's congenital CMV that occurred during pregnancy, you have to test in the first three weeks of life.
So if you're at home and you have suspicions that something isn’t right, you gotta get to your pediatrician quick.
And once you have that diagnosis...
one thing the baby could see is an infectious disease specialist in pediatrics,
you want them to be able to see an audiologist and get hearing tested.
Depending on the symptoms, they might need to see a neurologist, some children may need physical therapy,
but almost every state, you can have early intervention needs met through the state programs.
Basically early intervention is like getting the services needed—
hearing aids, cochlear implants, and physical therapy.
We have these services that can have a child have their full potential.
And so that's really important to know that and then also, to know when a child is born, if they have CMV,
even if they have normal hearing, you can follow them over time to make sure,
at least the first six years of life, that they don't develop hearing loss later due to CMV.
And I'm sure if you're just like me, you're wondering, what can pregnant parents do to lower the risk of transmission?
So probably the most common way a young woman or a family member would get CMV is through exposure to young children.
So children acquire CMV, maybe at the nursery, some children acquire it through breastfeeding from their mom.
And it's not causing them a problem.
And eventually they share the virus through their saliva, urine. So through bodily fluids.
And as anybody that has a toddler knows they share lots of bodily fluids with us.
So they're kissing us with sloppy kisses.
They're sharing what they put in their mouth and want you to put it in your mouth, we share food and drink.
And so a way that we could lower the risk in pregnant women is to not do those things while you're pregnant.
Don't share saliva with a toddler or a baby, whether it's your own baby, your own toddler,
or your friend's and family's children because that is how women may acquire the virus while they're pregnant
and then transmit it to the fetus.
Wash your hands after you've changed diapers and things like that.
There are so many things that they forewarn you of in your doctor's visits and your prenatal visits.
But this is something that I was never made aware of.
And let me tell you, I'm always kissing up on babies.
I was like, Oh girl, you might need to pull back.
We'll never know the full burden of congenital CMV until we do universal screening of newborns.
And any program that we develop where we're talking to women about CMV,
we need to make sure we include a conversation for all women, including those communities of color.
So it's important to tell your people about CMV—your family, your friends, and any pregnant women you see.
Thank you for watching Seeker Baby!
I’m Angel Laketa Moore, and I hope you’re learning as much about babies as I am.
If there’s a baby topic you want us to cover, leave us a comment, and keep coming back to Seeker for more on babies.
See you next time.