Covid-19 (coronavirus) is an infectious disease which affects different people in different manners like some have no symptoms, some have mild symptoms and some have severe symptoms. In this pandemic, everyone needs to be careful especially aged people and expecting moms. During pregnancy, your body goes through a lot of changes which also affect your immune system and make it weak. This is the reason you need to be a little more careful as compared to a non-pregnant women. Let’s look at some tips for pregnant women to stay safe in this pandemic which are as follows:
STAY HOME: Try to stay home as much as you can and avoid going outside. Also limit your home visitors like friends, relatives or maid. Even if you are a working women, it’s always suggested to work from home. Don’t go out for groceries, shopping, or any other work, ask your partner or any other member to buy the essentials.
MAINTAIN DISTANCE: In some cases when you need to step out from your home, make sure you wear your mask properly and maintain social distancing. For extra protection you may use face shields and hand gloves. If your company won’t allow for work from home, then it’s best to use the company’s cab or your own vehicle and avoid public transport. Make sure your company takes care of these basic guidelines for the protection and takes full care of temperature checking and sanitization. Avoid going at crowded places. Simply, minimize your exposure and come in contact with the other person as much as possible to stay safe.
SANITIZATION: If you are going out, make sure to wash or sanitize your hands more often and don’t touch around your eyes, nose and mouth. Even after coming back home, first of all wash your hands and face, sanitize your belongings, and change your clothes. During pregnancy, maintaining good hygiene should be your priority to minimize the risk of coronavirus. All you need is a little precaution to stay happy and safe in this pandemic time.
AVOID EATING OUTSIDE: During pregnancy, it’s suggested to have your meals after a regular interval, so do take care of your diet even when you go out. But keep away from eating outside and always take your home-made meals, snacks, and water bottles with you. And don’t forget to wash or sanitize your hands before eating.
AVOID USING PUBLIC WASHROOMS: As hydration is a must, and the urge to go to the washroom is also even more during pregnancy, try to avoid using public washrooms especially at crowded places. As it’s also suggested to not hold your urine in pregnancy, so take proper precautions to use public washrooms. Always carry your toilet seat sanitizer and wipes for more safety, in case you need to use public or your office’s washroom.
TAKE CARE OF YOUR DIET AND SUPPLEMENTS: During pregnancy, the dip in your immune system makes you more vulnerable to infections and transmitted diseases. For expecting women, it’s very important to have a well-balanced diet. As healthy and nutritious diet is the foundation to stay healthy and it also helps to boost your immunity. Add more green veggies, fruits, and salad in your diet. After diet, supplements play a very important role to boost your immunity. Take calcium, iron, vitamin D,E, and C supplements by consulting your doctor.
DO EXERCISE: Even though it’s suggested to stay at home, but still it’s equally important to stay active and do exercise during pregnancy which is important for you and your baby’s health. You can do prenatal yoga, meditation, walking, or exercise inside the house. The more healthy you become, the more your body has the ability to fight against any disease or illness. Stay active to stay healthy during pregnancy. Yoga and meditation also help you stay relax and happy in this stressful situation.
OPT FOR ONLINE CHECK-UPS: You need regular check-ups during pregnancy, which is important on one side and risky on another side. Try to prefer online check-ups as much as possible and collaborate your appointments (like if you are going for an ultrasound, then try to have your prenatal checkup at the same visit) to minimize the risk. Immediately consult your doctor, if you feel any of the symptom of coronavirus even it’s minor. The earliest you consult your doctor, the less it affects you and your baby.
HOW CORONAVIRUS AFFECT PREGNANT WOMEN AND THE DEVELOPING BABY?
Healthy pregnant women are not at high risk of getting infected due to covid-19 as compared to healthy adults. Even though you get infected by covid-19, you may feel mild or moderate symptoms of cold/flu which gets cured easily if treated on time just like other healthy adults. But if you are pregnant and have other health issues like diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, lung issue, other pregnancy complication, then you are at high risk of getting affected by coronavirus.
Now the next question, which comes in your mind after getting covid-19 positive during pregnancy is “What about my developing baby?”, “Will he/she also get positive because of me?”, “How will that little one deal with this illness?”. Well the answer to all of your questions is, “It was found in recent studies that there is no evidence of any infection transmitted to your baby”. If you are infected by covid-19, then the chances of your baby having covid-19 positive is very low. But if your symptoms get severe, then chances of pregnancy complication increases, which in turn may affect the health and growth of your baby.
So take full care of yourself to reduce the risk of getting infected. Follow strict guidelines, stay up to date about the situation around you due to covid-19, don’t believe in rumors or fake news, follow a healthy lifestyle, and don’t get too much stressed out even though you get infected. Just consult your doctor as soon as possible when you start feeling symptoms. Your doctor will advise you for the test. After getting the report of your test, your doctor will further tell you the treatment. And you will need either home-isolation or isolation in hospital as per your condition. Just stay positive, don’t loose hope and you’ll come out from this soon.