Keeping Healthy Through Cold & Flu Season
Anyone who has been pregnant or had a newborn through the winter months, especially in colder climates, knows that cold and flu season can be an incredibly stressful time of year for everyone.
If you’re pregnant, getting a cold is mostly annoying, as the use of cold medication is not advised if you are sick. If you contract the flu while pregnant, it can be a bit more serious, especially if your symptoms prevent you from eating or keeping food down, cause dehydration, or you spike a high fever. You will want to contact your medical provider right away if this happens.
The same goes for your newborn, essentially. When a baby contracts a cold, there isn’t much that can be done except clearing their stuffy nose, making them comfortable, and monitoring them for more severe symptoms. If they spike a fever, spit up or throw up more than usual, seem unable to keep breastmilk or formula down, or exhibit problems breathing due to congestion, you will want to seek medical attention immediately.
To help avoid this, there are some things you can do during cold and flu season to keep yourself and your family healthy:
Wash Your Hands Frequently and Thoroughly
This is something that has always been in the arsenal against germs, however during COVID hand sanitizer had its heyday. No matter whether you’re washing with warm, soapy water or slathering on some alcohol-based sanitizer, you want to make sure you get your fingernails, backs of your hands, between your fingers, and wrists when washing up. This ensures your hands are thoroughly cleaned and ready for contact with whatever’s within your reach. This is especially true if you’ve got visitors who can’t wait to get their hands on your newborn baby! Squeeze a little sanitizer into their mitts before they get to hold your babe to ensure all cold and flu germs are neutralized!
Breast/Chestfeed If Possible
If you have a newborn during cold and flu season, one of the best ways you can ensure their immunities are strong is by providing them with breast/chestmilk. The natural immunities you produce will travel through to their little bodies as they ingest their meals, and will help keep them healthy and strong! If you aren’t or can’t breast/chestfeed, no worries. Most formulas contain prebiotics to help support baby’s immune system as well!
Limit Exposure to Large Crowds
In a post-COVID world, this one might not feel as strange as it once did. Practicing social distancing and avoiding large gatherings for the first two to three months of your baby’s life can, in fact, help keep them healthy through cold and flu season! Not only that, but avoiding those people-packed places when pregnant can also help keep you healthy!
Know When to Call Your Doctor
people get sick. There is ultimately nothing you can do to avoid it sometimes, no matter how careful or cautious you are. You can follow every rule, wash and sanitize everything around you, eat healthy, stay away from people, and eventually you or your baby are still going to get sick. That’s the way virus’ work unfortunately. It only takes one contact to contract. However, a cold is different than some of the aforementioned symptoms and signs that you or your baby may be sicker than you thought! Know when to call your medical professional and seek counsel or treatment for your symptoms. When in doubt, call. There’s nothing wrong with being overly cautious!
While cold and flu season can certainly put a damper on your winter day to day, know that as long as you are careful and keep an eye on symptoms, this too shall pass. If you need support throughout pregnancy or the fourth trimester with tips and tricks for safe and healthy pregnancies and births, discuss strategy with your doula! We’re happy to talk about ways to help keep you and your family safe and comfortable this cold and flu season!
