Allergy during pregnancy

Allergy in pregnancy is not a serious pathology, threatening the process of gestation, but allergic reactions can provoke many of the health problems of the future mother. Therefore, when diagnosing a mother's allergy, a constant monitoring of the allergist and the treating gynecologist is necessary.

Allergy in pregnant women rarely "starts" during the gestation of an infant, it often manifests itself before the moment of conception. If a woman had at least a single case of an allergic reaction, it is worth taking preventive measures long before pregnancy planning. Predisposed to allergic reactions, women are at risk if they are going to become mothers.

[1], [2]

Symptoms of the allergies in pregnancy

Allergy during pregnancy can be accompanied by skin allergic reactions, especially this is typical for those women who are pregnant for the first time. Any contact with an external stimulus, considered a standard allergen, and this can be dust, pet hair, cigarette smoke, can provoke hives. Often the urticaria passes without leaving a trace for three to four days, so the immune system copes with it. If the period of skin manifestations lasts more than a week, you should immediately contact an allergist to find out the real cause. Allergy is often cross, that is, primary reactions may indicate an external allergen, but there is one more hidden, which until then does not appear. A pathological union of a dust irritant and food allergen and other equally serious compounds are possible.

It happens that the allergist makes a paradoxical diagnosis - an allergy to pregnancy. This does not mean that the female body refuses to bear fruit, rather indicates an atypical active hormonal surge. This manifestation of the allergy quickly passes, during the formation of the placenta, all allergic reactions subsided.

How can an allergic anamnesis affect pregnancy? 

• All trimesters of pregnancy proceed calmly, without signs of allergy; 
• Pregnancy can reduce the appearance of allergic reactions due to general shifts in the functioning of organs and systems; 
• During pregnancy, all signs of an allergy are exacerbated, and the disease itself occurs with exacerbations.

If a woman has never suffered from allergies, this does not mean that allergic reactions do not threaten her. During the gestation of the child, many body systems work in a complex mode, because the same immune system performs dual functions - protecting the mother and the fetus. That is why a woman during pregnancy should be especially careful, as much as possible to neutralize the possibility of contacting with allergens. Moreover, it will not be superfluous to get an allergist's advice, which will tell you which products should be avoided, what means of household chemicals can not be used, and so on. If pregnancy is planned, it may be worth thinking about the seasonality of allergic events, as a rule, this is the period of flowering plants, trees.

If a woman before pregnancy has already suffered from allergies, it is possible that the reactions will not be so acute and painful. This decrease in allergic aggression is explained by the fact that the organism of the future mother is intensively producing a specific hormone - cortisol. It is a hormone that has a high biological activity and ability. Preserve the energy reserves of the body. For pregnant women suffering from allergies, cortisol is an internal, natural preparation that reduces allergy manifestations, neutralizing the aggression of histamine. Not casually, in a number of antiallergic drugs glucocorticoids occupy far from last place. The statistics say that allergy during pregnancy often occurs asymptomatically and even severely serious types - hay fever, bronchial asthma manifest themselves in mild form. Clinicians noticed that on the eve of childbirth, in two or three weeks, any existing allergic reactions in the pregnant woman seem to subside. The only negative - immediately after birth, the level of cortisol begins to normalize and the allergy can return in its previous form.

It should be noted that pregnancy does not always mean an easy, non-allergenic period. Coryza of an allergic etiology, tearing and even skin rashes may occur in the second month of pregnancy in those who previously did not know what an allergy is. It all depends on the state of the woman's organism and how much the changes associated with bearing change the functioning of organs and systems. The likelihood of diseases that are considered severe forms of allergy is very small. Not more than 1% of women, according to statistics, during pregnancy get bronchial asthma. But those with asthma were diagnosed earlier may fall into another risk group. About 5% of the total number of women with chronic bronchial asthma during pregnancy suffered from attacks more severe than before pregnancy. As a rule, exacerbations can occur from the 24th week to the 36th week.

[3], [4], [5]

Prevention

Allergy during pregnancy involves a whole range of preventive measures. First of all, it is a reasonable diet and a well-crafted menu. The dietary stage is connected with the fact that those who are pregnant most often suffer from allergies, who do not observe the rules of selection of foods and abuse allergy-provoking dishes. Citrus fruits, despite the presence of a complex of vitamins, legumes, nuts, honey, chocolate, in a word, all those products that fall into the list of allergenic, you need to use moderately and carefully. If the woman is already allergic, during pregnancy she needs to eat on a doctor's diet specially designed, strictly observing it. Fortunately, that the list of allowed food is great enough - porridge, boiled lean meat, stewed vegetables, greens, will only benefit the body of both mother and future baby. One of the menacing factors that provokes not only an allergy, but other serious problems, is smoking. Along with alcohol, cigarettes should be excluded from the life of a pregnant woman categorically and preferably forever. After all, and after childbirth, the mother's body works with redoubled force under the condition of breastfeeding. The list of preventive recommendations includes regular wet cleaning, as well as ventilation, in order to get rid of household dust. Feather, downy bed is desirable to replace the hypoallergenic, as well as synthetic clothing on the wardrobe of natural, cotton materials.

Allergy in pregnancy, with all its unpleasant symptoms and threats, is well supervised with timely diagnosis. Of course, any pregnant woman should avoid taking medications, especially antihistamines. That is why preventive measures, observance of which is not so difficult, are important for the health of the mother and the future baby.

[6], [7], [8]