Cold during pregnancy - Causes, symptoms and treatment. MF.

A cold is a disease caused by viruses( ARVI, including influenza viruses) and provoked by hypothermia. You can get cold at any time, including during pregnancy. The peak incidence falls on the cold season-winter and early spring.

To protect yourself from cold during pregnancy is not so easy. The fact is that in pregnancy, even in absolutely healthy women immunity decreases, there is a so-called "immunosuppression", that is, the suppression of immunity and the body can not, as before, protect itself from the attack of various viruses. Immunosuppression in pregnancy is not pathology at all, as many believe, but a physiological norm. Nature specifically suppresses the immunity of the expectant mother to prevent an immune conflict between the fetus and the mother.

Thus, the main cause of colds during pregnancy is weakened immunity. Other provoking factors that can cause a cold include: contact with an infectious patient, cold and wet weather, stress and allergic diseases, smoking - both active and passive.

Symptoms of a cold in pregnancy

At first, the cold manifests itself in the form of mild ailment, headache and fatigue. During the day the condition worsens. There is a cough, runny nose, sneezing, sore throat, loss of appetite. Unlike influenza, the symptoms of a cold caused by other viral infections are less pronounced. Cough is usually mild and dry. The temperature does not rise above 38 degrees and in most cases remains normal. The active period of the disease lasts on average 2-3 days, then the symptoms of cold gradually regress.

In the usual "non-pregnant" condition, a cold does not require a doctor's advice, but if a woman is pregnant, then a doctor-therapist or lora consultation is simply necessary to protect yourself and your baby from possible complications of a viral infection.

The diagnosis of the common cold( ARI) is based on the complaints of the pregnant woman and the data of the examination - plaque in the throat and tonsils, the constant allocation of mucus and nose and so on.

Treatment of a cold during pregnancy

To treat colds during pregnancy should be treated with extreme caution! Most drugs are contraindicated in pregnancy due to a negative effect on the fetus. Moreover, many traditional medicines can harm any chemistry, therefore any medicines and herbs should be used only after the appointment of a doctor.

For medicinal preparations against the common cold, vasoconstrictive drops( Naphthyzine, Halozolin, Nazivin) are used once or twice a day to facilitate breathing, but not more! And the use of drops can only be in the acute stage of the disease with a copious discharge from the nose. If the cold does not worry much, do not use drops. The fact is that absolutely all vasoconstrictive drops have a negative effect on the placental blood flow and can lead to a delay in the development of the fetus or to its hypoxia. It is especially not recommended to use drops before the 12th week of pregnancy, when the baby lays vital organs.

For throat pain, antiseptics are used topically. You can gargle with a solution of chlorhexidine or furacillin for 30 seconds. Usually, antiseptics quickly eliminate the sore throat. In any case, they should not be abused, and after pain relief it should no longer be used.

For colds, antipyretic drugs are not prescribed, as usually the temperature does not exceed 38 degrees. However, if the temperature exceeds the allowable limits( which is extremely rare!), Or if the pregnant woman is very bad at tolerating the temperature, then with caution appoint antipyretic drugs. Preference is given to Paracetamol. It is undesirable to use Aspirin to reduce the temperature, because it can provoke miscarriage.

Do not take antibiotics at all! First, there is no need for them. Secondly, antibiotics can cause serious malformations in the fetus.

Homeopathic medicines and immunomodulators are actively advertised today for the treatment of colds. As for homeopathic medicines, their effectiveness has not been proven to date. Immunomodulators are also not a panacea for the treatment of colds during pregnancy. Appoint a certain drug can only the doctor-immunologist after the examination.

In most cases, the course of a cold is delayed and complicated not because of a lack of treatment, but because of an incorrect lifestyle. What is meant?

Firstly, a cold can not be carried on your feet. An ill pregnant woman needs rest-bed rest, at least the first 2-3 days, when the condition is particularly severe. If you work, it's better to stay at home until you finally feel good.

Second, drink plenty of fluids. If there is no edema, then the more you consume fluids, the sooner you will recover.

Best for these purposes is a warm( not hot!) Tea with lemon, honey, raspberry, chamomile and so on. Food is also better to consume in a warm and liquid form, broths and soups are the best food for a sick cold. In the diet, you must include onions and garlic.

And thirdly, a pregnant woman with a cold should keep herself warm. It is necessary to put warm socks on your feet and lie under the blanket. Do not overdo it with thermal procedures - it's absolutely counter-indicative to lie in a warm bath for a cold, go to a sauna or a sauna. It is also impossible to put mustard plasters. It is allowed to do cold inhalations to relieve cough and runny nose.

You need to rinse your throat. If the pain in the throat is not strong, rinse better to use a solution with chamomile, calendula, soda, salt.

For a fight against the common cold a good alternative to vasoconstrictor drops are the drops based on sea water-Aqua Maris. Very effective ointment based on herbs "Dr. Mom."The ointment is lubricated around the nostrils of the nose and breathing is quickly relieved. If there are no allergic reactions, then the ointment can be applied several times a day.

A natural immunostimulator for the treatment of colds is horseradish. It has long been used in folk medicine. Horseradish should be finely grated and mixed with sugar. Leave for a day, drain and you can apply tincture every hour for one tablespoon to ease the symptoms.

After three days from the start of treatment, cold symptoms should recede, after a week you should recover. If this does not happen, you need to contact your doctor again.

Thus, the main principle of treating colds during pregnancy is to try to adhere to the above principles of treatment and to take less of any medications, because in one way or another practically all medicines have their side effects and affect the fetus.

Complications of the common cold:

- miscarriages;
- malformations of the fetus;
- fetal growth retardation;
- in the absence of proper treatment in a future mother may develop angina, otitis, sinusitis, bronchitis.

Cold prophylaxis:

- a healthy lifestyle, rejection of bad habits;
- the intake of vitamins, especially active protectors against infections are vitamins A and C;
- in cold weather dress warmly to avoid hypothermia;
- in the period of the epidemic of viral diseases, eat more onions and garlic in fresh and in dishes.

Consultation of obstetrician-gynecologist for cold during pregnancy:

1. I am pregnant and caught a cold. Strongly sore and pershit in the throat, the temperature rose. What to take?
If there is fever, consult a doctor, and do not self-medicate. To relieve the pain in the throat, I recommend rinsing the throat with a solution of chlorhexidine or furacillin.

2. I will give birth in a week. Today I feel weakness, my throat aches a bit. How to muffle the disease? Do I have to go to the hospital because of this?
No, in the maternity home because of a cold no one goes to bed, even before childbirth. If there is no edema, the best way to muffle the common cold is a copious hot drink, emotional and physical rest.

3. I am 4-5 weeks pregnant and suddenly fell ill with a cold. How will the disease affect the baby?
A cold in the early stages can lead to an abortion.

4. I got sick with a cold. I went to the ENT doctor, he prescribed drops for me in the nose and all sorts of folk remedies. But the cold does not pass for a week. Can the treatment be ineffective?
Consult a physician again.

5. Is it possible to treat a cold with alcohol during pregnancy?
No way.

6. Has had a cold. Now I feel good, but I have not been coughing for 2 weeks. What to do?
Go to the therapist, with colds cough rarely persists for so long.

7. I am pregnant, I have a temperature of 37.8 degrees. I feel very bad, I am numb. Can take a febrifuge?
Up to 38 degrees you should not drink antipyretic. If it is higher, you can take paracetamol, but only if the doctor advises.

8. I am pregnant, the temperature because of a cold rose to 39 degrees. There were blood discharges from the genital tract. What to do?
You urgently need to turn to a gynecologist or call an ambulance-blood discharge may indicate a miscarriage.

9. Can I use antibiotics in pregnancy to treat colds?
You can not.

10. Is it possible to go to a bath with a cold?
It is undesirable, and if there is a temperature - it is strictly forbidden.

Obstetrician-gynecologist, Ph. D.Christina Frambos