It is no coincidence that the first trimester of pregnancy is considered the most dangerous - in the first 10 weeks, the organs and systems of the child are actively laid, and up to 13 weeks the young placenta does not fully fulfill its barrier functions, therefore the baby is very vulnerable.
Any negative factors can lead to his death, to the formation of severe malformations. With the onset of pregnancy, a woman's immunity decreases, and she herself becomes more susceptible to viral diseases, colds. Not only viruses that have entered the mother's bloodstream, but also improper treatment of ARVI, flu and other diseases can harm the baby in the 1st trimester.
What cannot be done?
If this happened and the pregnant woman nevertheless fell ill, it is important first of all to know what absolutely must not be done.
And there are quite a few prohibitions:
- it is forbidden to soar feet in hot water - rush of blood to the lower limbs and pelvic organs can cause miscarriage;
- it is forbidden to rub with badger fat, fat - difficulty in thermoregulation can lead to vascular disorders;
- high temperature cannot be tolerated - this adversely affects the uteroplacental blood flow and the supply of oxygen to the fetus;
- you cannot take any medications without the knowledge of the doctor.
We need to dwell on medicines in more detail, because it is with them that we are used to treating a runny nose, cough, viral infections.
Almost all antibacterial drugs are contraindicated for a woman in the first trimester.... With influenza and ARVI, antibiotics are generally not recommended, because their effect on viruses does not apply, they are active only against bacteria. If a woman suffers from a bacterial rhinitis or has a sore throat, the causative agent of which is most often pathogenic bacteria, then the correct antibacterial treatment must be prescribed by a doctor.
This decision is not easy for a specialist: you need to weigh all the risks that an infection can turn into and the possible risks from using an antibiotic. If the infection is more dangerous, then in the interests of the mother and fetus, antibiotic therapy is still prescribed.
Antibiotics increase the likelihood of fetal mutations; drugs of the quinolone group are especially dangerous, as well as ototoxic gentamicin and neomycin. The use of drugs of the sulfonamide group is not encouraged. If there is an urgent need for antibiotics, according to the doctor, drugs of the penicillin group or the macrolide group can be prescribed.
A woman in the first trimester should not use aspirin-based antipyretics, which thins the blood, and vasoconstrictor nasal drops are not recommended for a cold.
Antiviral agents can be recommended, but only if they are homeopathic ("Anaferon", "Oscillococcinum", etc.). Whether to accept them or not is up to the woman herself. There is no harm from homeopathic pills, as well as special benefit - clinically, the effectiveness of homeopathic remedies has not been revealed.
Most antiviral drugs also have no effect on viruses, there is only a small a group of anti-influenza drugs that have an effect on common strains of influenza, but they are injected in a hospital by injection. Such funds in the first trimester are strictly prohibited..
It so happened that the myth of the need to take shock doses of vitamin C for colds or SARS is alive and well among the people. Clinical trials have not revealed the effect of this vitamin on viruses, but the enormous harm that an excess of this vitamin can cause in the first trimester of pregnant women has been proven: hypervitaminosis C is a provocateur of a frozen pregnancy and spontaneous miscarriage at an early stage.
A woman should not lean on taking multivitamins during an illness.... In the first trimester, an excess of vitamin A is dangerous (it can cause multiple fetal malformations), vitamin E (in large doses, it can cause anomalies in the development of the skeleton and organs of vision of the fetus), vitamin K (can lead to defects of the heart, blood vessels, abnormal development of the central nervous system). Vitamins are good in the second trimester, when the need for nutrients in the mother and fetus increases significantly.
Up to 13 weeks of pregnancy, inclusive, vitamins are recommended strictly according to individual indications.
How to be treated?
From all that has been said above, one might get the impression that a woman cannot be treated with anything at all in case of illness in the first trimester. This is not true. It is both possible and necessary to treat, but it should be done correctly and adequately.
If there is a sore throat, a cough, a fever, chills and headaches, muscle pains, photosensitivity, then the first thing a pregnant woman should do is call a therapist at home. In no case do you need to go to the clinic for an appointment... The specialist will assess the condition and find out what kind of disease happened and who is to blame for it - a virus or a bacterium. Next, we move on to the correct treatment.
Mode
It is recommended to treat colds and SARS in the first trimester in compliance with bed rest - no trips to work or school, no active household chores and physical activity. At rest, recovery will be faster and the likelihood of complications will be lower.
You need to understand that a viral infection usually goes away in 3-5 days with or without treatment, in the case of pregnant women, the disease can drag on up to 7 days, because the immunity of expectant mothers is noticeably reduced and it will take more time for it to give an adequate immune response to the pathogen.
The room in which the sick person is located should be often and well ventilated (at any time of the year), there should not be heaters that dry the air in it. Only inhalation of humidified air can speed up recovery and reduce the likelihood of respiratory complications - bronchitis, pneumonia, since the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract will not dry out.
To humidify the air, it is important to entrust household members with wet cleaning in the room; you can turn on a humidifier if there is such a useful device in the family. If it is out of stock, you can hang wet towels over the heating radiators, which, when dry, will evaporate moisture into the air... As they dry, they need to be moistened again with water.
It is important for a pregnant woman with a cold or a viral illness in the first trimester to drink a lot - drinking plenty of room temperature will help you get rid of toxins faster, will restore water balance at elevated temperatures. You should not drink black tea, which contains caffeine, another substance prohibited in the first trimester.
It is better to drink green tea, homemade fruit drink from fresh berries, dried fruit compote with minimal added sugar. Avoid hot drinks - with many inflammatory processes in the larynx, hot drinks will only aggravate the swelling.
Gargles, inhalation
Such methods are not prohibited, but they must be agreed with a doctor, who may prescribe certain drugs to be added to the inhaler. Boiled potatoes are a good grandma's method, but it is better to use an inhaler... If there is no inflammation in the throat and nasopharynx, you can inhale hot water vapors - this will add additional moisture to the mucous membranes of the respiratory system. If you are not allergic to essential oils, you can add a drop of eucalyptus oil to your inhaler.
Attempts to breathe over a hot potato or a basin of boiling water can end very badly: a burn of the mucous membranes of the respiratory system, eyes.
With a sore throat, you can gargle with a weak soda solution, furacilin solution... The most common saline solution made from boiled water and table salt can be instilled into the nose (avoid adding iodized salt).
Inhalation is not carried out at high temperatures, with bacterial rhinitis and sore throat caused by bacteria.
When coughing
Most expectorant drugs for pregnant women are contraindicated. If the expectant mother does not have an individual intolerance to honey and beekeeping products, she can drink milk with honey, add a spoonful of honey to warm tea - this will help to cope with the cough. But we must remember that honey is among the products of increased allergenicity, and therefore too much of this product can lead to the formation of an allergic reaction in the fetus, and this allergy will manifest itself after birth.
If it is impossible or unwilling to use honey for treatment you can drink a decoction of rose hips, a decoction of viburnum berries.
With a runny nose
Rhinitis in women in "position" is not always associated with the disease. Swelling of the nasal mucosa can be caused by the action of the pregnancy hormone progesterone. And if there are no other symptoms besides a runny nose, then there is no need to treat such rhinitis at all - it will pass gradually. Usually, relief comes by the end of the first trimester of pregnancy.
If a full complex of symptoms accompanying the disease is "attached" to the common cold, then, in addition to saline rinsing of the nose, you can instill aloe juice diluted with water in a 50/50 ratio.
In the heat
The woman is advised to carefully monitor the temperature level during illness. If the thermometer rises above 38.5 degrees, you should take antipyretic drugs based on paracetamol (aspirin, as we remember, is prohibited!)... A woman should wear a minimum of clothes, do not wrap herself in a warm blanket - at high temperatures, quick heat release is important.
Despite the persistent advice of older relatives and some "experts" from the Internet, you should not use ice and alcohol rubbing. This can cause the blood vessels to spasm.
Nutrition during illness
Food for a pregnant woman should be light and not burdensome for the digestive system. If the body now spends too much energy on the digestion of meat steak, then the recovery may slow down.
Eat light foods that are quickly digested, such as cereals, dairy products, fresh fruits and vegetables... With a sore throat, it is better to eat porridge and mashed potatoes, so that hard food does not additionally injure the larynx. Try not to overeat or starve.
Approved medicines
It will not be superfluous to repeat that the use of any medication during the first third of the period of bearing a baby must be agreed with the doctor.
100% approved drugs in the first trimester do not exist in nature. There are remedies that can be recommended if necessary, but again, if there is a reason for that, and exclusively by a doctor.
Cough can be prescribed:
- "Mukaltin" - 3-4 tablets up to three times a day;
- Stodal - up to 4-5 times a day, 5-10 ml (homeopathic preparation).
For a sore throat, a pregnant woman can be prescribed:
- "Cameton";
- Ingalipt;
- "Hexoral".
For the common cold, only drugs are used that are saline solutions and herbal products without a vasoconstrictor effect:
- Aquamaris;
- "Pinosol".
From temperature, a woman can use any paracetamol-based products:
- "Paracetamol";
- "Panadol".
You should not drink sweet syrups with antipyretic effect or use powders that are diluted in water, they contain sugar and dyes. It is better to take a regular paracetamol pill or use a rectal suppository form.
How to avoid illness?
Given that a woman's immunity is suppressed by the action of progesterone from the first days after implantation, it is important to know how to protect yourself and protect yourself from diseases.
- Try stay away from crowded places, especially if it is a cold season outside and the premises are closed. It is in such conditions that viral infections spread the fastest.
- Before traveling by public transport, visiting a consultation or clinic, shop or pharmacy lubricate the nostrils with "Oxolinic ointment".
- Try walk more in the fresh air.
- Eat a balanced diet, do not neglect meat, fish, dairy products - vegetable protein cannot fully support a woman's immunity in such a crucial period for her.
- Get a flu shot - pregnant women are injected with a purified vaccine. Vaccination cannot give one hundred percent guarantee that there will be no illness, but it guarantees that the flu in case of infection will proceed more mildly and easily, and the likelihood of dangerous complications is reduced.
If the disease does start, treat it correctly and be sure to take measures to prevent re-infection. You are unlikely to be infected with the same virus, because after recovery, temporary immunity is formed, but there are more than three hundred respiratory viruses that can be dangerous, and you are in no way protected from another pathogen.
You will learn about the features of ARVI treatment in early pregnancy in the following video.
