 Hi, I'm Dr. Olyth Selvan, Consulant Heptologist and Chairman of Division of Liver Transplantation, Manipal Hospital's Bangalore. It's very important to screen pregnant mothers for hepatitis B because that can be easily prevented in the newborn child. You have to check for HBSAG, which is blood test, which is specific for hepatitis B, and then find if the mother has got active infection. If the mother has got active infection, she needs to be given medications to decrease the virus in the blood. And also the newborn child has to be given both active and passive immunization to prevent HB infection for the kid.