When a woman gets pregnant, everything inside her body starts revolving around the little baby that is growing within her. The child is the priority for every function that the body performs. Same is the case with the immune system in a woman’s body. The system seeks to protect the child more than the mother. As a result of this the pregnant lady is more susceptible to cold, cough and flu. This results in chest infection during pregnancy.
Chest Infection During Pregnancy:
The main symptoms of a chest infection while pregnant include: pain in chest, coughing, shallow breathing or breathlessness, feeling disoriented, muscle ache, constant headache, loss of apetite and at times the patient might have a little temperature. For women who are wondering what effect your persistent cough will have on your baby, rest assured that your baby will not be affected by your cough and cold and in most of the cases, the common cold will persist for a week or so and you will gradually start to feel better.
Simple ways to protect your self from chest infection when pregnant is to have a balanced diet including lots of fresh fruits and green vegetable. These will boost your immunity system by providing your body with Vitamins and antioxidants and make your body more resilient to viruses and other cold causing germs.
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Maintain proper hygiene. Cover your mouth using a tissue when you sneeze or cough. This will help you protect yourself from common flu causing viruses and you will also not pass your infection onto others.
Ensure that you drink plenty of water during the course of the day to boost the level of minerals and vitamins in your body. Drinking adequate amounts of water will also keep your body hydrated and cool. However, you should avoid a lot of caffeinated drinks.
Take proper rest and allow your body some time to fight back the germs. Adequate rest will also help pregnant women maintain a proper level of blood pressure and will keep stress at bay,
Exercise daily because nothing boosts your system more than half an hour of exercise on a regular basis.
If you are suffering from a bad sore throat then squeeze half a lemon in a glass of warm water and ass one table spoon honey to it. You can drink this twice a day to get relief from sore throat. Put a few drops of eucalyptus oil on a tissue and sniff it to clear stuffy noses instantly.
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Pregnant women should also give up smoking and drinking because these not only have an adverse effect on your baby but they are also detrimental for your immune system. Alcoholic drinks are found to weaken the lungs and make them more prone to infections.
Avoid taking medicines because they are not that helpful. The best thing to do is to cough and rid your lungs of the phlegm.
If however, your chest infection in pregnancy gets really bad then you can take a paracetamol a day but do so only when your doctor approves of it. Research has shown that pregnant ladies should avoid aspirin because in early pregnancy it is detrimental to the health and development of your child and in late pregnancy it affects the length and onset of your labour pain.
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Chest infections are very common in pregnant women and the best way to keep them away is to take good care of yourself from the start. Follow a simple and healthy routine that will keep you and your baby protected against all kinds of infections.
