Antipyretics for children are prescribed by a pediatrician. But there are emergency situations with fever when the child needs to be given medicine immediately. Then the parents take responsibility and use antipyretic drugs. What is allowed to be given to infants? How can you lower the temperature in older children? What medications are the safest?
Water procedures are traditionally considered relaxing and soothing. A daily shower or bath not only ensures the cleanliness of the whole body, but also improves blood circulation, improves vitality and mood. All this is normal for an ordinary person, but are these usual procedures recommended during pregnancy? Is it possible to take a bath at this time or is it better to abandon it for a while and use only the shower? The most interesting arguments for and against baths during pregnancy are in this material.
Benefit or harm?
Since ancient times, people have treated water as a living and spiritual being. They trusted the water with secrets, “poured” bad information into it, performed the ablution of the child immediately after childbirth, as well as the final ablution after the death of a person. Water is truly the most mysterious substance on our big planet, which is at the same time a symbol of purity and chastity, holiness and chastity, health and spiritual peace.
There are myths that swimming, visiting and bathing during pregnancy can harm the expectant mother, citing the fact that hot temperatures and active movements in the water can cause threatening phenomena. Others say that water from the bath can penetrate through the vagina and “infect” the unborn baby. Let's figure out which of this is true and which is really a myth?
Well, firstly, the cervical canal is normally tightly closed and is a kind of barrier to the same infection, and secondly, the child until the end of pregnancy is in the fetal membrane, which also protects it.
Physical activity is useful not only without pregnancy, but also during it, because movements help normalize the functioning of the heart and blood vessels. When moving, blood flow accelerates, and the work of the muscles of the lower extremities helps remove cell breakdown products with lymph. All this creates normal levels of oxygen and nutrients in the blood flowing from mother to child.
Movements in water become smoother, because body weight and static tension decrease in water. That is why swimming lessons are recommended even for seriously ill people during the rehabilitation period, not to mention pregnant women. Add to this the constant presence of the fetus in an aquatic environment (amniotic fluid), due to which any position and movements of the pregnant woman in a container with water are accepted by the child as natural.
It is no coincidence that many doctors now not only do not prohibit pregnant women from taking baths and swimming, but also strongly recommend them. But the use of water procedures during this period has its own characteristics, which you should be aware of in order not to harm yourself and your unborn baby.
In addition to useful, but general recommendations, it is worth listening to individual advice that will help you get the maximum benefit and cause the minimum harm for those who like to take a bath. So, individual advice includes:
- Before taking a bath, you should disinfect it with a sponge and laundry soap. This precaution will minimize the risk of skin and vaginal damage from bacteria that may be left in the bath by another family member.
- If a pregnant woman has high blood pressure, she should consult a doctor again and only then take a bath. The water temperature in this case should not be higher than 32–34°.
- You should not take a bath if contractions have started or amniotic fluid has broken.
- While draining the water, it is worth sitting in the bath for a few more minutes so that the pregnant woman’s body slowly adapts to the ambient temperature. This will help prevent a sharp drop in blood pressure after a bath.
- To prevent overheating of the entire body, it is useful to leave at least part (arms and shoulders) in the air.
- Frequent bathing with suds (more than 2 times a week) can change the pH of the skin and dry it out.
- It is not recommended to take a bath immediately after a heavy lunch or dinner; a bath 2-3 hours after a light dinner will bring more pleasure.
And finally, I would like to remind all pregnant women once again that your condition is physiological and natural, during which you do not need to deprive yourself of your favorite activities and habits. Do not violate the instructions and follow simple rules during pregnancy - this is what those who like to take a warm bath need.
