If you are thinking about the pregnancy and the flu you should know that this is a condition that often affects pregnant women.
There was a large study conducted in this field that found that there are just as many pregnant women hospitalized because of the flu as non-pregnant women.
Information about the flu and pregnancy
For sure you know that the immune system of pregnant women isn’t as strong as normally to be able to accept the baby and not to consider it as a foreign body. As a result women are more susceptible to the different kinds of viral infections, including the flu.
Symptoms of the flu
In case you are interested in having the flu during pregnancy it is good to know that the most common symptoms include fever, muscle aches, headaches, sore throat, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, stuffy nose and cough. It is possible that you don’t have all the symptoms but you still have the flu.
If you happen to have a fever, it is a must to treat it immediately, even if it is not linked to pregnancy and the flu. When the mother has a fever, the baby could become overheated and this may turn out to be very dangerous.
Medications
Before you start taking any kind of medications, even if they are only over the counter ones for the flu when being pregnant, you should talk to your doctor first about them. Tylenol is considered to be safe for pregnant women while other kinds of medication, such as Ibuprofen may turn out to be dangerous.
High fever and vomiting
The women experiencing a high fever and severe vomiting because of pregnancy and the flu should contact their doctor immediately. As it has been mentioned before, high fever is dangerous for the baby and it could result in dehydration. If there is no improvement or the symptoms get worse, call your doctor.
The truth about having the flu while being pregnant is that women have higher chances of being affected by complications like pneumonia. The faster you get some treatments, the smaller the risks are for your baby.
How to make it better
The good news about pregnancy and the flu is that there are some things you can do to make it better. If you have a problem with nasal congestion, you should sleep with your head slightly elevated. Some women say that sleeping with a humidifier really helped them. In order to feel better you must have plenty of rest.
It is just normal that in case of pregnancy flu women don’t feel like eating anything. However it is important to have a healthy diet even in this case and you should also make sure that you stay hydrated. If you can’t really eat, have some jello, popsicles or chicken broth. They can all replace normal meals.
Having pregnancy and the flu isn’t the end of the world, but women have to make sure that they take care of themselves to get better as soon as possible.
