Tuberculosis in Pregnancy

The Maternal, Child & Adolescent Health Division and Tuberculosis Control Branch developed this toolkit to increase awareness about tuberculosis (TB) in pregnancy.

TB is an infectious disease caused by a bacterium (germ). TB is spread from person to person through the air. TB is the deadliest infectious disease worldwide. Though there is currently no effective vaccine, TB is preventable and curable.

What You Need to Know

TB in pregnancy can be serious for both parent and baby if not diagnosed and treated in a timely manner. Read below and talk to your health care provider to learn more about how to protect you and your baby from TB.

Pregnant and postpartum persons may be at increased risk of developing TB. TB during pregnancy can lead to:

Maternal morbidity
Miscarriage
Babies born too early or too small
Perinatal death

Babies can also become infected with TB germs before or after birth. Children under 5 years of age are at greater risk of developing serious forms of TB that can cause severe illness or death.

When to Get Tested

Pregnancy is an important time to ask your health care provider if you think you might be at risk for TB. Pregnant persons should be tested for TB infection if they have one or more of these risk factors:

Spent time with someone with active TB disease.
Have a weaker immune system because of certain medications or health conditions such as diabetes, cancer, or HIV.
Were born in or traveled (for at least one month) to a country with elevated TB rates .
Ever lived in a large group setting such as a homeless shelter, correctional facility, or nursing home.
Ever worked in a place where TB is more likely to spread such as a hospital, homeless shelter, correctional facility, or nursing home.

A health care provider may use either a skin test or blood test to test for TB. Both tests are safe and effective during pregnancy. A medical exam and chest x-ray are essential if the test result is positive.

Latent TB Infection (LTBI)

TB begins in the lungs as latent TB infection (LTBI). A person with LTBI has TB germs but does not feel sick and can't spread it to others.

With LTBI, TB germs are inactive in the body for months or years following infection.
Many, including pregnant persons, do not know they are infected.
25% of the world's population is estimated to have LTBI, including over 2 million people in California.

LTBI can become TB disease, a life-threatening illness. If LTBI progresses to TB disease, individuals may have symptoms lasting at least 3 weeks such as cough, fever and fatigue and can spread the disease to others. The progression from LTBI to TB can happen at any time, but there is increased risk during the postpartum period.

Ask your health care provider if you should get tested for TB. Luckily, there is medication to prevent progression from LTBI to TB and it is safe during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Printed Materials

Download and provide the Pregnant and New Parents: Answering Your Questions about Tuberculosis (TB) flyer. Please share with mothers, parents, and families in your community.

Copy and paste the text to share on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. To use corresponding graphics, click on photo to enlarge the image, then right click and “save as.” You will now be able to upload this higher resolution image to your social media site.