The reason why pregnant women catch a cold, the first point is that the physical condition has changed before and after pregnancy; The second point is that pregnancy will lead to changes in respiratory mucosa; The third point is that the immune system will decrease after pregnancy; Fourth, pregnancy will lead to changes in respiratory function. Let's take a look at it in detail.
1. Changes of physical conditions before and after pregnancy
When a woman is just pregnant, her physical condition has already begun to change. As the pregnancy reaction becomes more and more intense, situations such as not wanting to eat, morning sickness, and poor sleep occur from time to time. Coupled with the reduction of exercise after pregnancy, her physical condition will become weaker and weaker, and the immunity of pregnant women will naturally be worse than before, so the cold virus will easily invade pregnant women. Therefore, pregnant women often have colds in the early stages of pregnancy.
2. Changes of respiratory mucosa
Usually, women often have some symptoms of a cold after pregnancy, mainly because after pregnancy, the respiratory mucosa will become hypertrophy and even edema.
3. Changes of self-defense immune system
Some external factors, such as getting cold in the rain, changing the temperature in different seasons, or their own reasons, such as staying up late, fatigue, etc., will lead to the decline of the whole body or the defense function of the respiratory tract, which leaves a loophole for the invasion of viruses, and the virus bacteria in the body will eventually lead to pregnant women catching a cold.
4. Changes in respiratory function
Usually, after 18 weeks of pregnancy, the oxygen consumption of pregnant women will increase by 10%-20%, half of which is the oxygen consumption of the fetus. At this time, pregnant women often hyperventilate in order to meet the oxygen demand of themselves and the fetus, so the ventilation of the lungs will often increase by 40%. The oxygen inhalation and carbon dioxide excretion of the fetus in the abdomen depend entirely on the mother, and they have no breathing function.
What are the symptoms of a cold? There are viral colds and common common colds. When pregnant women catch a cold, they often have symptoms such as stuffy nose, runny nose, fever, sneezing and sore throat. Next, let's see what are the symptoms of different colds.
1, common cold symptoms
The common cold is our most common cold, and its etiology is mainly caused by viruses. The onset of the common cold is relatively fast, and the incubation period is about one to three days. The symptoms of pregnant women with a common cold are usually runny nose, sneezing, stuffy nose, cough, burning throat, dry throat and itchy throat. After two to three days, the nose will be thicker, and there will be symptoms such as sore throat, weak taste, poor breathing, poor appetite and hoarseness. The common cold usually does not have fever or systemic symptoms. It is normal to feel uncomfortable, afraid of cold, headache and low fever. The symptoms of physical examination are slight congestion of pharynx, congestion of nasal mucosa and secretion. The common cold can be cured in five to seven days.
2, viral cold
(1) Acute viral pharyngitis
A cold caused by acute viral pharyngitis usually has symptoms such as burning sensation and itching in the throat. There are fewer cases of coughing, and the pain in the throat is not obvious, which will only occur when swallowing food.
(2) Acute viral laryngitis
A cold caused by acute viral laryngitis will have symptoms such as hoarseness and difficulty in speaking, and sore throat when coughing, accompanied by sore throat and fever.
(3) bacterial pharyngeal tonsillitis
A cold caused by tonsillitis will have obvious symptoms such as sore throat, fear of cold, fever, etc., and usually the onset is more urgent.
Extended reading: What should pregnant women eat when they have a cold?