The truth is that pregnant women are reluctant about taking over-the-counter medication, even when it comes to cough drops during pregnancy. These come in different flavors and they could have various ingredients including beneficial honey and decongestants that could turn out to be harmful for the baby.
Mentholated pregnancy cough drops
There are two main kinds of cough drops: mentholated and non-mentholated. Those that are mentholated can make the pain of the throat better. Besides the oral anesthetic these drops could also contain cough suppressants.
When thinking about cough drops when being pregnant you should consider that they contain guaifenesin that is an expectorant and dextromethorphan. Both of these ingredients are said to be safe for pregnant women, meaning that you could take mentholated cough drops.
Non-mentholated drops
These cough drops during pregnancy cover the throat of women with a coat of soothing substances. In this case the drops don’t suppress the cough and don’t numb the pain of the throat. Usually the drops come with natural ingredients, such as lemon, mint and honey. Some of the drops also contain herbs.
At this point you might not be sure of the effects of the cough drops in the developing baby. If this is the case the best thing you could do is to talk about this matter with your health care provider before you take any medication even if it is said that they are ‘all natural’.
Considerations
In the majority of the cases the cough drops during pregnancy are considered to be safe. However you should know that they could contain a lot of sugar or aspartame. If you happen to be affected by gestational diabetes, you should avoid taking drops high in sugar to maintain your blood sugar level.
Although some of the cough drops for pregnant women might not contain sugar, for sure they have aspartame. This is a sweetener substitute for sugar, and you should know about it that the researches linked it to the appearance of cancer.
Warnings
When thinking about cough drops during pregnancy you should consider that usually cough is a symptom of an underlying disease such as a cold or sinus infection. If this is the case you shouldn’t take any medication that contains phenylephrine or pseudoephedrine.
These are the decongestant agents of the pregnant women’s cough drops and they are known to have negative effects on the blood flow of the placenta. Instead you should opt for the natural remedies. These include using a humidifier if you have a dry cough, eat some honey or drink decaffeinated and warm tea.
As you can see the cough drops during pregnancy could be good for you and not all of them have adverse effects. However it is best to try to treat the problem with natural remedies instead of the over-the-counter drops. If these remedies don’t help, you should ask for the suggestions of your health care provider. This way you can be sure that whatever medication you choose, it will be safe.
