Rubella - Complications 

If a pregnant woman catches rubella, it can result in a miscarriage (the loss of the pregnancy during the first 23 weeks) or stillbirth (where a baby is born after the 24th week of pregnancy without any sign of life).

However, this is now rare since the MMR vaccination was introduced.

The rubella infection can also pass to the unborn baby and cause birth defects, known as congenital rubella syndrome (CRS).

Congenital rubella syndrome (CRS)

Congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) can cause the following problems in unborn babies:

• cataracts (cloudy patches in the lens of the eye) and other eye defects
• deafness
• congenital heart disease (where the heart does not develop in the right way)
• a small head compared with the rest of the body, as the brain is not fully developed
• a slower than normal growth rate
• damage to the brain, liver, lungs or bone marrow

Children born with CRS can develop symptoms later in their lives as well. These include:

• pneumonia – an infection of the lungs
• type 1 diabetes – a long-term condition that is caused by too much glucose in the blood
• overactive or underactive thyroid – the thyroid gland produces hormones to control the body’s growth and metabolism 
• swelling inside the brain – this causes a loss of mental and movement functions