There are a lot of risk factors during pregnancy, such as toxoplasmosis in pregnancy. Although this sounds quite nasty, it’s usually not as bad as it seems.
What is toxoplasmosis during pregnancy?
Toxoplasmosis is an infection caused by a parasite. Those children and adults that have a healthy immune system don’t have any long-term consequences and in the majority of the cases the symptoms are mild or even nonexistent. Since the symptoms are so minor, it is possible for people to get infected and not even know about it.
On the other hand in case of those people whose immune system has been compromised are at a higher risk. There might be some damage to the eyes, lungs, brain or even heart.
Making sure that you don’t get infected with toxoplasmosis during pregnancy
Although there is no guarantee that you won’t get infected, there are some things that you could do. One of them is not to allow the cat to go outside while you are pregnant so that it won’t get in contact with the parasite.
It is even better if you ask someone else to take care of your cat while you are pregnant.
Since having toxoplasmosis in pregnancy is quite dangerous, you should ask someone else to change the litter box and boil it in water for 5 minutes. If there is no possibility to avoid changing the litter, then make sure that you wear rubber gloves so that you don’t get in direct contact with the litter. After you are done you should thoroughly wash your hands.
Since you can get toxoplasmosis during pregnancy even if you get in contact with contaminated soil, you should wear gloves even in case you are working in the garden and then wash your hands. If there is a sandbox, you should cover it when it isn’t in use because the cats tend to use them as litter boxes.
It is just natural for people not to like having bugs around but this is even more important when thinking about toxoplasmosis in pregnancy. They could get in contact with contaminated soil or cat feces and they could also get in contact with food so you should control them as much as possible.
Food is also a good place to get toxoplasmosis from during pregnancy. Make sure that you wash the fruits and vegetables thoroughly and you should avoid having raw or undercooked meat. Just as in case of handling litter, soil or raw meat, you should wash your hands before handling food.
You can get toxoplasmosis in pregnancy through your eyes, so you shouldn’t rub them when preparing food and make sure that you clean the counter after finishing. Raw eggs and unpasteurized milk could also cause toxoplasmosis during pregnancy.
A lot has been said regarding toxoplasmosis in pregnancy and you should keep in mind all these in order to make sure that you will be healthy during pregnancy and that you won’t pass any infection or illness to the unborn baby.
