What should I do if I have a low fever during pregnancy?

I believe everyone has experienced fever. Generally, after a fever occurs, our body will feel weak and dizzy, and the fever is accompanied by a cold. Pregnant women are particularly weak, so they will have a fever. We don’t need to worry too much about normal fevers, but pregnant women need to pay special attention. So what should I do if I have a low fever during pregnancy?

Due to some special physiological differences between pregnant women and fetuses, fever should be treated differently. If the fever of pregnant women is not serious, physical cooling methods can be considered. If the symptoms are more severe, medications should be used with caution under the guidance of a doctor.

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 metabolic rate of pregnant women, 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, so moderate fever reduction should be chosen. Generally speaking, if the pregnant woman's body temperature is not higher than 38.5 degrees Celsius and she has no obvious symptoms of discomfort, you can consider using physical methods to help reduce the fever, such as ice pillows, heat dissipation patches, warm water wiping, such as repeatedly wiping the body 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.

If it is only a short-term mild fever, it generally does not cause harm to the mother or fetus. However, some studies have found that during the 5th to 6th week of pregnancy, which is the period of neural tube development, if the pregnant woman's body temperature is higher than 38.9 degrees Celsius and lasts for more than 24 hours, it will increase the chance of the fetus developing neural tube defects (such as anencephaly), but this situation is not common.

Therefore, the harm caused by fever to the fetus or the mother will not be greater than the harm caused by the cause of the disease itself. For example, if the fever is caused by measles infection, the harm caused by the virus to the fetus (such as deformity) will far exceed the heat damage caused by the fever itself.

After the early stages of pregnancy, fever caused by influenza will not cause direct harm to the fetus. However, pregnant women may become more seriously ill due to influenza, so they need to be vaccinated against influenza to prevent it. But if the pregnant woman is in good health, common colds and fevers during pregnancy will not have much impact on the pregnant woman or the fetus.