During pregnancy, the immunity of the expectant mother is weakened - the body needs additional strength for the development of the fetus. During pregnancy, women are more susceptible to colds, which adversely affect the health of the baby. It is extremely important to closely monitor your health, prevent diseases, strengthen and maintain your immunity - then pregnancy will proceed without complications.
Causes of decreased immunity
- Hormonal imbalance. After fertilization of the egg, the body is rebuilt, physiological changes occur. In this regard, weakness, nausea, dizziness and weakening of the immune system are observed.
- Improper diet and lifestyle. If before you ate fried potatoes, smoked chicken and semi-finished products, did not give up alcoholic beverages, did not play sports, it is not surprising that the immune system has weakened.
- Stress and bad mood. During pregnancy, mood swings in women become a frequent occurrence, and especially impressionable ladies are also constantly worried about the health of the baby, winding themselves up. Changes in the daily routine also become the cause of stress, when you want to sleep more and more, and work and household chores do not allow you to do this.
- Disruption of the digestive system (after all, it is in the intestines that the eternal struggle of "good" and "evil" microflora takes place, and the health of the whole organism depends a lot on its normal functioning).
- Lack of regular physical activity, a sedentary lifestyle, and inadequate oxygen supply to the body.
- Poor environmental situation, living in big noisy metropolitan areas.
- Lack of vitamins and minerals, vitamin deficiency.
The first signs of a healthy immune system are a feeling of vigor and sound healthy sleep.
Ways to boost immunity
- Do not contact sick people and do not overcool. Do not walk on the street for a long time, avoid crowded places. It is better to send close relatives to the store. If your financial situation permits, you should also refuse public transport services, go by private car or taxi. This is especially true for the cold season.
- Walk in the fresh air regularly. Get out of town more often.
- Lubricate the nasal mucosa with oxolinic ointment 3-4 times a day.
- First of all, cleanliness in the apartment. It is advisable to wipe the dust 2-3 times a week, at least once every two weeks, carry out a general cleaning. If in the later stages of pregnancy such a task seems overwhelming to you, involve your household. The apartment should be ventilated several times a day. Use an air ionizer or a Chizhevsky lamp to remove bacteria from the air.
- Don't neglect exercise. Exercising in the morning to keep your muscles toned will be enough. In addition, there are exercises for pregnant women to prepare the body for childbirth, to facilitate this process. Classes are aimed at increasing the flexibility of the pelvic joints, stretching the muscles of the thigh surface.
- Temper yourself. This should be done gradually, it is worth starting with rubdowns with a towel dipped in cool water. Then you can switch to a contrast shower (you need to start with water at room temperature, gradually moving to lower temperatures).
- Visits to doctors - only with the permission of your treating specialist. Therefore, before running for the next flu shot, X-rays, massage and other procedures, consult a gynecologist, perhaps in your position it will be categorically contraindicated. So, for example, the flu vaccine can cause complications, you need to know about them in advance in order to make the right decision: whether or not to get vaccinated.
- Drink plenty of fluids during pregnancy, but remember that ordinary water causes swelling, combine it with compotes, juices and decoctions with raspberries, mint, rose hips, ginger, willow tea. Of course, you need to give up bad habits.
- Personal hygiene is never superfluous. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water after walking and touching common items. On the street, where there is no water and soap, use tissues and antiseptic gel.
- Gargle with a decoction of chamomile, calendula, or soda solution twice a day.
- The main criterion for the health of a future mother is a good mood, lack of stress and excellent sleep. Therefore, do not worry in vain, find a new hobby for yourself or devote yourself to your favorite pastime for which there was not enough time before. Watch good movies, listen to nice music, chat with friends, sleep more.
Ten minutes of laughter is equal to the course of taking an expensive vitamin complex, so look everywhere for reasons for joy and have fun from the heart - in this case, not only your mood increases, but also your immune status.
Folk remedies
Eat more vitamins, drink teas that strengthen the immune system, for example, with ginger, chamomile, turmeric, rose hips. Prepare for yourself a delicious dessert with honey, prunes, dried apricots and walnuts. Beekeeping products are very useful, but during pregnancy, they should be eaten with extreme caution if you are not allergic to them. It is better to refuse other traditional medicine, for example, tinctures and balms, prepared according to the proven recipe of the grandmother.
Healthy eating
Be sure to add as many fruits and juices as possible to your diet. Unsure about the freshness of your purchases - send them in the trash bag. Avoid eating foods that cause stomach upset: chips, fast food, mushrooms, over-fried meat. This is a heavy food, for the assimilation of which the digestive system requires enormous efforts, while such food does not contain any useful vitamins and minerals.
To maintain immunity, expectant mothers are advised to regularly consume foods rich in dietary fiber - prebiotics: fruits, vegetables, especially bananas, garlic and onions. Prebiotics are found in asparagus, beans, chicory, and figs.
A weighty argument in favor of including onions and garlic in the diet: these products contain not only prebiotics, but also phytoncides - biologically active substances that kill or inhibit the growth and development of bacteria. Another option for using the beneficial properties of garlic: cut a few cloves into small pieces, arrange them on saucers and arrange them throughout the apartment. Thus, phytoncides will be able to actively demonstrate their protective properties.
Eat beetroot and pomegranate juice, pitted apples, pumpkin, carrots. Ordinary buckwheat is also suitable for strengthening the immune system. Eat porridge with it or prepare an unusual dessert according to a simple recipe: rinse, heat in a pan and grind buckwheat in a coffee grinder. Mix with powdered sugar. Take it one teaspoon at a time before meals.
Liver, meat and fish are undoubtedly very useful, but they are a serious burden for the digestive system of a pregnant woman, try to exclude them from the evening meal. But prunes, figs and dried apricots should definitely be introduced into your diet, they allow you to normalize the intestines, relieve constipation.
Folic acid, which is found in greens, beans and avocados, plays a huge role during pregnancy. Eat spices from the garden only in moderation, especially parsley, which stimulates blood circulation in the pelvic organs, this is harmful for expectant mothers. Peanuts and chocolate should be strictly prohibited, they can cause allergies. Citrus fruits, which are effective in boosting immunity, should be consumed in small amounts.
Eat more vitamins, especially vitamin C, zinc, selenium.
Vitamins and preparations
Any medications should be drunk with extreme caution. But the use of vitamins will not be superfluous, since the body cannot get the whole gamut of nutrients with food: an additive is required. For pregnant women, a whole range of all kinds of vitamins is produced. Before using it, you should ask your doctor for advice, maybe you don't need any drugs, your immunity is already in order.
Important: before taking immunostimulating and other drugs, consult your doctor! During pregnancy, we do not recommend taking herbal preparations to maintain immunity. Herbal stimulants of immunity (echinacea, eleutherococcus, ginseng, aralia) have not fully studied by science mechanism of action on the immune system, including during pregnancy. In addition, allergic reactions, increased blood pressure are not excluded.
There are several of the most popular vitamin and mineral products on the market:
- Elevit. Contains a loading dose of magnesium, does not contain iodine.
- Pregnavit. A very popular complex containing a huge list of trace elements.
- Alphabet. A unique complex of its kind, different vitamins are divided into tablets of different colors. You can take any trace element, if you wish, give up the vitamin, which you already get in excess. Especially convenient for women prone to allergies: any element can always be discarded.
- Vitrum Prenatal. Another preparation that does not contain iodine. But here in huge quantities there is iron, useful for girls with anemia, as well as folic acid.
- Mom compliments. This complex is suitable for women who feel good, eat right, monitor their health, and take vitamins in tablets only for safety net.
- Centrum Materna. The drug contains iodine, folic acid, vitamins A and B in increased amounts. Not recommended for allergy sufferers, a doctor's appointment is required.
- Multi-tabs Prenetal. This is a basic vitamin complex for pregnant women.
- Femibion. European remedy containing magnesium, vitamins B and C.
- Amway. Tablets with different vitamins differ in color, the drug causes controversy, since it is not sold in a pharmacy, but is ordered from a company representative from a catalog. On the other hand, reviews of pregnant women speak of the effectiveness of the remedy and the absence of harm.
- Emphetal. A novelty on the Russian market, which women are still afraid to buy.
- Pregnakea. Inexpensive vitamins that contain the whole range of useful products. On the market recently, so the opinion is still ambiguous.
Despite the wide range of vitamin complexes, remember the need for medical advice... If it's summer now, you lead a healthy lifestyle, your city has a good ecology, and colds are infrequent guests in the house, you shouldn't even start taking medications.
Health care
When to see a doctor for help, and when can illnesses be treated at home? In an interesting position, even a slight increase in body temperature and the first symptoms of ARVI indicate the need for an urgent consultation. Without a doctor's prescription, it is undesirable to drink any pills, since most modern drugs are categorically contraindicated in the first trimester. Call a doctor or go to the clinic - it's up to you, when choosing the second option, remember about the gauze bandage, because the medical institution is full of sick people.
As you can see, the ways to maintain and strengthen the immune system are very simple, and the advice can be followed without difficulty. The main thing during pregnancy is a great mood, long rest, healthy nutrition and a gentle daily routine, then you will feel wonderful, and the baby will tell you a lot "Thank you" 🙂
The problem of women's health is relevant all over the world. The woman is the continuer of the clan. A healthy mother is a healthy child. How can you improve immunity, improve health for pregnant women, healthy people and those who have problems. Gynecologist Irina Prokusheva, Kazakhstan, shares her observations.
