Pregnancy and winters

The other day some kids were singing ' rain rain go away come again another day'. My thoughths wondered how we all wished the same in these winters. So let me pen down what all my pregnant friends can do to wish away the winter blues.

To start with stay happy. The winter rains together with the pregnancy hormones can make you depressed. Read some books, listen to some music, catch up with a movie and most important continue your exercises even if u cant walk outside. Walks or exercise are the best nonpharmaceutical antidepressants.

Next, avoid catching a cold. Due to low immunity pregnant patients have more severe respiratory problems compared to nonpregnant patients. That would mean unnecessary medications, something we want to avoid in pregnancy. Usually most medications find their way into the fetal blood in minute quantities. These minute quantities also have to be processed by the tiny fetal liver and kidneys, something they are not used to. So we give medications when the stress of the disease is more problematic to the baby than the medicines.
Hence whenever you go out make sure you are adequtely clothed to keep yourself warm. Cover your head and chest. Avoid crowded places to keep away from infected people i.e those with a running nose or fever or rash. Keep in mind that pollution with fog can aggravate asthma and bronchitis . Therefore pregnant women with history of wheezing episodes should carry their inhalers.
If you do catch a cold inhale steam and do gargles with warm salt water. The cough maynot progress further. In case of fever you can take a tablet of crocin and visit the doctor, but dont self medicate. A flu vaccine is recommended by many doctors.

Urinary tract infections are common in pregnancy. This is because of the hormones which relax the urine carrying vessels- leading to urine collection in them. Collection of urine leads to urinary infections. The easy way of preventing this is to have plenty of fluids to wash the microbes out. Have at least 7 - 8 glasses of water daily. In this cold weather we  often forget the water requirements of our body. Fluids will hydrate your skin, help in cough and cold and keep urinary infections at bay. The market is full of a varity of vegetables. Make different soups and savour them.

Some women complain of itching. Well, keep your skin moisturised or well oiled. Dry skin can aggravate certain skin conditions in pregnancy like eczema and psoriasis. Of course itching might indicate few medical conditions too , so dont forget to mention it to your doctor.

To sum it up, we have short but cold winters in Delhi. Enjoy them while you can. Eat greens, drink in plenty, exercise daily and have a good sleep.