Maternal-Infant Transmission

Maternal-infant transmission is not common. In most studies, less than 5 percent of infants born to HCV-infected mothers become infected. The disease in newborns is usually mild and free of symptoms. The risk of maternal-infant spread rises with the amount of virus in the mother’s blood, if the mother also has human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, or if there are complications of delivery such as early rupture of membranes and fetal monitoring. Breast-feeding has not been linked to the spread of HCV.