Dehydration during Pregnancy Dehydration during pregnancy, while easily prevented, can sneak up on even the most cautious pregnant mom. Since dehydration can be a serious concern in itself, and lead to serious complications, it’s important to know the causes, preventions, warning signs and remedies. What is Dehydration? Simply put, dehydration happens when your body eliminates more water than you replace – you simply don’t drink enough water to keep up, and your body literally dries out. Dehydration acts as a ‘doorway illness’ and is usually a leading contributor to more serious heat illnesses like heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. Risks of Dehydration during Pregnancy: During the first months of pregnancy, there are two major concerns with dehydration: Mom’s health. Being dehydrated (usually caused from morning sickness) can cause nausea (and thus creating a vicious cycle, where you can’t drink anything, and therefore get more nauseous, which means you get more dehydrated and can’t drink anything, causing more severe nausea – etc.). If mom doesn’t drink enough to avoid dehydration she may need to be hospitalized for IV fluids. The good news is that once mom is rehydrated (which may be over night or a couple of days), things tend to work out okay. A healthy mom is important to a healthy pregnancy (and baby). The biggest fear with dehydration in the first trimester, and part of the second, is that there’s not enough amniotic fluid for baby – a significant lack of amniotic fluid can cause baby to lay against the uterus (instead of floating in the amniotic fluid) which could lead to deformities of the arms, legs, and feet. During the second and third trimester dehydration can lead to premature labor. Actually, dehydration is one of the three most common reasons for labor contractions (the other two are bladder infections and the impending birth of the baby hopefully at full term and without complications.) Back to dehydration and premature labor: Dehydration causes blood volume to decrease, which increases the level of oxytocin (the hormone responsible for contractions), and preterm labor results. Often preterm labor can be halted by rehydration – but you want to avoid that scenario if you can. In addition, dehydration can raise your body temperature which might lead to further complications, such as muscle cramping, heat exhaustion, or other heat-related illnesses. Dehydration is the number one cause of fatigue for pregnant women, and everyone else. Pregnant moms are more susceptible to fatigue since their energy levels tend to be low in the first place. Keeping hydrated is necessary for a healthy, energy filled, and lower stress pregnancy.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 15:23:12 +0000
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