Mother to child infection

Can I pass the infection onto my child?

There is a low risk (approximately 5%) of passing Hepatitis C to your baby during pregnancy and birth. This risk is not increased by the mode of delivery at birth or breast feeding.

Breastfeeding is routinely recommended. However, sometimes breastfeeding causes nipples to crack and bleed. In this case, mothers are advised to bottle feed until any bleeding has stopped. 

Co-infection with HIV

The risk of passing Hepatitis C to your baby during pregnancy and birth is twice as high if you are co-infected with Hepatitis C and HIV. There is also evidence that if you have a detectable amount of HIV (viral load), vaginal delivery may increase the risk of infection.