The Maryland Perinatal Hepatitis B program is designed to identify pregnant women who are carriers of the hepatitis B virus, and to prevent their newborn infants from becoming infected.

An estimated 340 infants are born each year in Maryland to women who are chronic carriers of the hepatitis B virus.

As many as 90% of children who are exposed to hepatitis B during birth and early childhood will become chronically infected, and as many as 25% of these chronic carriers will die as a result of liver disease as an adult. Individuals who are chronically infected are also capable of infecting others by blood and body fluids, such as by sexual contact.

Perinatal transmission (from the mother to her baby at birth) can be prevented if the pregnant woman who is a hepatitis B virus carrier is identified by the time the baby is delivered. The hepatitis B virus is detected by a test of the mother’s blood, called HBsAg. Her doctor or nurse practitioner should order this blood test. If the mother is infected with hepatitis B , that is, she has the hepatitis B surface antigen in her blood when she delivers the baby, the baby must be treated with hepatitis B vaccine and immune globulin (HBIG) within 12 hours of birth. This can prevent hepatitis B infection in almost all these high-risk newborns. Every pregnant woman should ensure that her doctor has ordered a hepatitis B surface antigen blood test (HBsAg) for her.

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