Chickenpox During Pregnancy: Risks, Symptoms & What to Do

Question
Well I will give you as much information as I can because I am asking this question for my friend. I know she has three children and her first day of last mentral I believe was July 27,2003.  She is 36 weeks pregnant and about 5 days ago she came down with the chicken pox.  She called and stated to me that she is having a lot of pain under her belly button , so severe she has to breath through them and she feels the need to urinate more often and when she stands up she experiences a lot of pressure and feels like she has to use the bathroom.  She has contacted her doctor and they will not allow her to come into the office because of her Chicken Pox.  She feels like she is having contractions and is not sure what she should do.  They also do not want her going to the labor and delivery floor of the hospital due to her having the chicken pox.  Please note out of her three children she already has two of them were 8 weeks premature. I would like to thank you for your anticipated attention to this matter and I look forward to hearing your response.

Answer
If she believes that she is going into labor and has contractions more than every 6-8 minutes apart (from the beginning of one to the beginning of the next) and each one lasts for at lest 45 second, she should contact her doctor and tell her doctor that she is in active labor. She will have to be admitted (and isolated from the other patients). The risk of Varicella (chicken pox) when you are wihin a few days of labor is that the baby can develop Varicella pneumonia. She will have to get Varicella Zoster Immuno Globiulin (VZIG) as soon as possible. Her doctor knows what to do for chicken pox. Make sure the the doctor also is quite aware that she is in labor.