Can pregnant women take ibuprofen when they have a fever?

If a pregnant woman has a cold and fever, she must be careful when taking medicine. She cannot use it indiscriminately. If she really needs to take medicine, she must follow the doctor's orders during treatment. If she uses the wrong medicine, severe cases may cause fetal malformations. For pregnant women, if the fever is severe, she can use ibuprofen to reduce the fever under the guidance of a doctor. Of course, if it is in the late pregnancy, she must be more cautious in taking medicine to avoid adverse reactions.

Can pregnant women take ibuprofen when they have a fever?

Everyone knows that it is best not to use drugs during pregnancy to avoid adverse effects on the fetus, but if a pregnant woman has a high fever, what medicine should be used to treat it?

Professor Xu Xianming, director of the obstetrics department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said that in the early stages of pregnancy, the fetus is sensitive to drugs, and the drugs taken at this time may cause malformations, so the use of antipyretics is generally not recommended unless the condition absolutely requires it.

For the middle and late stages of pregnancy, ibuprofen and indomethacin (such as indomethacin) can be used for a short period of time. It has been reported that indomethacin-type drugs can cause premature closure of the ductus arteriosus of the fetal heart and pulmonary hypertension. However, Professor Xu said that occasional use of them once or twice in a short period of time generally does not cause major side effects.

For patients with long-term chronic fever in late pregnancy, the cause of the fever should be found out first and treated accordingly. For example, patients with tuberculosis need to use anti-tuberculosis drugs, and antipyretics are not recommended. In some patients with high fever, such as those with a body temperature above 39 degrees Celsius, or severe poisoning symptoms caused by infection, hormone drugs can be used to control body temperature to enhance the body's stress response ability. For patients with asthmatic bronchitis, hormone drugs can not only reduce fever but also help control asthma symptoms.

Professor Xu finally reminded everyone that many antipyretic drugs are compound preparations. In addition to antipyretics, other drug ingredients may also cause adverse reactions. Therefore, if you use compound preparations, it is best to use them under the guidance of a doctor.

What to do if a pregnant woman has a fever

After all, the physiological characteristics of pregnant women and fetuses are different from those of ordinary people. Therefore, when facing a fever, they should also be treated differently. How should pregnant women be cared for when they have a fever to ensure the health of the mother and the fetus?

1. Physical cooling : In addition to finding out the cause of the fever, moderate fever reduction is necessary for pregnant women. Fever often increases the mother's metabolic rate and is accompanied by many uncomfortable symptoms such as headache, loss of appetite, general fatigue, palpitations, and even dehydration, which increases the burden on the cardiopulmonary function of pregnant women. Therefore, you should choose moderate fever reduction. Generally speaking, if the pregnant woman's body temperature is not higher than 38.5 degrees Celsius and there are no obvious discomfort symptoms, you can consider using physical methods to help reduce the fever, such as: ice pillow, heat dissipation patch, warm water wiping, such as wiping the body repeatedly with a warm towel, placing ice packs in the armpits, forehead and groin, etc.

2. Use of antipyretics : Try not to use them. As for when to consider using drugs, it varies from person to person. However, if the body temperature is above 38.5 degrees Celsius and accompanied by uncomfortable symptoms, you can consider using drugs under the guidance of a doctor, otherwise it will harm the fetus.

3. Find out the cause of the fever : It must be reiterated that the pathogen that causes the fever is more harmful to the mother and fetus than the fever itself. Therefore, when a pregnant woman has a fever, it is important to find out the cause of the fever and prescribe the right medicine, which is more important than simply reducing the fever.