Do you want to learn more about personal hygiene during pregnancy?
As a woman, you will realize that as you undergo the different phases of pregnancy, your body automatically starts changing. Some women go through physical changes, others go through intense hormonal changes, while others experience both changes at a go.
The changes are inevitable because, during this period, your body is trying to accommodate that living creature growing inside you. As a result of hormonal changes, hygiene is of utmost importance during pregnancy.
Hormonal changes cause pregnant women to sweat more. Moreover, you will notice that you have more vaginal discharge compared to a person who is not pregnant. This may make you and your unborn baby vulnerable to infection.
However, maintaining proper hygiene prevents these infections from occurring at any point. At mommy kick, we are glad that we will walk you through this period to assist you in maintaining high levels of hygiene. This is the deal:
- First and foremost, we will gladly share with you how pregnancy affects vaginal health.
- Secondly, we will explain why hygiene is important during pregnancy.
- Thirdly, we will give you a comprehensive guide on maintaining personal hygiene during pregnancy.
In this case, we are confident you will experience a smooth and healthy journey.
How Pregnancy Affects Vaginal Health
As mentioned earlier, when pregnant, an increase in the levels of hormones as well as an increase in blood levels, cause a higher amount of vaginal discharge. Most discharge during pregnancy is odorless and usually appears yellowish when dry. This type of discharge is harmless and, therefore, should not cause any false alarm. However, foul-smelling discharge or changes in the discharge indicate an infection and must be diagnosed by a gynecologist immediately.
Why It Is Important To Maintain Hygiene During Pregnancy
During the pregnancy phase, you will notice that your birth canal doubles up in the amount of discharge, becoming a passage of infection. This makes your birth canal a crucial player in the health of your pregnancy. For this reason, we are going to take you through some of the common infections to watch out for:
- Bacterial vaginosis is one of the most common infections during pregnancy. The infection results from an imbalance of good lactobacilli and bad bacteria. With this infection, you may notice a fishy-smelling and a thinner discharge than normal. The discharge could be white, green, or grey and may result in itching.
- Yeast infection is another vaginal infection to watch out for during the second trimester. It causes your vaginal discharge to change to thin, whitish, and odd-smelling and may cause itching. The infection occurs when yeast and acid balance in the birth canal is out of balance. However, they do not endanger your pregnancy but can sometimes be very uncomfortable. The good thing is that yeast infection can easily be controlled.
How To Maintain Personal Hygiene During Pregnancy
- During pregnancy, you will experience increased vaginal discharge, sometimes stimulating bacterial growth. This may make you contract bacterial vaginitis, and if left untreated, it may further cause complications for you and your unborn baby. To avoid this, ensure you maintain high levels of hygiene by wearing only pure cotton undergarments. Secondly, avoid wearing tight clothes like jeans to maintain proper air circulation between your clothing and your skin. Proper air circulation ensures that your vagina remains dry, thus limiting the growth of bacteria. Thirdly, ensure you change your undergarments as often as possible to keep your birth canal dry. The last few months of pregnancy causes the uterus to enlarge and press hard on the bladder. In the cases whereby episodes of urine leak, ensure you use panty liners that you can change after every two to three hours.
- Ensure you wash properly with plain water and avoid unnecessary body products on your vagina. This may include soaps that disturb the PH balance of that critical part essential for good vaginal health.
- Researchers also recommend trimming pubic hair over waxing to limit any chances of allergic reactions.
- Also, some women start experiencing breast leaks during pregnancy due to colostrum or initial milk. Again, keeping yourself dry is of utmost importance. Ensure that you wear cotton undergarments and use breast pads where necessary.
- Maintaining oral hygiene is also important during pregnancy. An increase in estrogen levels during pregnancy may lead to inflammation of the gums, thus causing pain and frequent bleeding. In addition to the increased levels of progesterone that come with pregnancy, it makes you prone to the bacteria in plaque that further causes gingivitis. Research shows that the bacteria that causes the inflammation of the gums can get into the bloodstream and reach the fetus. This is the reason for the many cases of low birth weight in babies. To avoid this, ensure you maintain high levels of oral hygiene.
- Furthermore, maintaining skin and hair hygiene is also important during pregnancy. Your skin tends to sweat more than usual during pregnancy due to hormonal changes, increasing the chances of contracting skin infections. Moreover, your body tends to obtain multiple folds due to weight gain during pregnancy. During this time, ensure you focus more on the folds by ensuring they are clean and dry at all times to avoid infections. Experts recommend using mild soaps and shampoos to clean your hair and skin. For the hair, it is advised that you avoid using hair colors and chemical treatments. This is because, since your skin is more sensitive during this time, chemical products may cause exaggerated allergic reactions, becoming a major concern for your health.
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Conclusion
In conclusion, it is a no-brainer that personal hygiene is of utmost importance during pregnancy. It will ensure that you and your unborn baby have a smooth journey during this period.
Maintaining personal hygiene reduces the chances of infection for both of you. Therefore, following this comprehensive guide we shared, we are confident you will experience an amazing and healthy journey.
Good luck!!
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