Swine flu and ttc

iguana

I had stopped ttc earlier this year due to my husband being unwell, but we are now thinking about starting again soon. The only thing is that I'm feeling slightly worried about what happens if there is a larger wave of Swine flu infections.

On the whole I'm not worried about the possible pandemic. It has a low fatality rate and for the most part everyone who dies is otherwise unhealthy. However when you are pregnant your immune system is lowered to stop you rejecting your baby, so pregnant women are usually considered one of the most at risk of any flu. They are also both harder to treat and sustained high temperatures increase the risk of miscarrying.

I feel pretty stupid for being worried about it, but if there is a real pandemic I don't really want to increase my odds of both acquiring and worsening a possibly fatal illness. Nor do I particularly want to get pregnant at a point when the odds of miscarriage are heightened.

Nevyn

Women have gotten pregnant and had badies while all sorts of pandemics swept the globe.
Getting stressed out about what may or may not happen isn't going to help.

Really you could become pregnant and get stuck by lightening, absurd but not outside the realms of statistical possiblity.

Yes when you are ttc it does make sense to try make things as good as possible for you but don't let thta slide into the realms of needing everything to be perfect cos lets face it if all women were to do that they human race would have ended long ago.

Keep yourself healthy, look after yourself, eat right and don't fret about things you can't control or that which may never happen.

CathyMoran

Yes, it is a worry - I am in more than one of the risk groups so my risk is even higher and my mum and dad actively do not want me to try for a baby but I am taking the chance while trying to keep in as good a health as possible. Having said that, we are not activly trying this month but that is because we need a break from trying. I wish you all the best with whatever you decide.

Das Kitty

If you do get flu when pregnant you will be prescribed anti-virals. I wouldn't worry a huge amount, it's a mild enough flu from what I've been kept updated on at work. It does affect your lungs more than other flus though and a lot of people have gotten chest infections from it. I've been in contact with two pregnant women in the UK who have it / had it and apart from the normal flu stuff all has been OK.

There's always going to be a flu going round.

foxy06

I'm six months pregnant and thought I was overreacting a bit but I really am worried about this swine flu. I'm going to London next week too and it seems to be rampant over there at the moment so it's causing even more of a concern.

CathyMoran

Mods, hope that it is OK to post this link - it is from the BBC web site and is in connection with this issue - was not going to post it but it is all over the news now also. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8157755.stm

iguana

Thaedydal wrote: »

Women have gotten pregnant and had badies while all sorts of pandemics swept the globe.

Yes they did, but a huge, huge amount of them died. Pregnant women are in one of the highest risk brackets for this pandemic. And the difference between this pandemic and others is that there is public information now that tells us what is happening, which hasn't existed in previous pandemics. We also know that it is extremely likely that there will be a vaccine against this illness available to the public by October.

This isn't the pregnancy forum, it's the forum for people who are planning to get pregnant. So at this point it is worth considering if it is best to postpone trying to get pregnant for a few months until the vaccine is available. Most of us in the western world are low risk of fatality from this illness but by getting pregnant we become high risk. (That doesn't mean that we are at high risk of dying, but a high number of the fatalities that will happen will be pregnant women.)

I live in London, so the odds of me getting any flu are obviously higher than that to people in lower density areas. I fully expect to get it but I don't have any real worries about the flu if I got it now, the available flu drugs are very effective and the fatality rates are very low. We also have savings that we've ear-marked for private treatment if we get the flu at a point when the NHS is overwhelmed - unlikely, but not outside the realm of possibility.

I am however worried about pushing myself into a high risk category and about the higher risk of having a miscarriage if flu is contracted. It's a bit tough to work out what is the best thing to do when we are getting conflicting information. And it's become a big news item since the death of Ruptara Miah on Friday.

Nevyn

Get yourself some disposable gloves and wear them, the greatest chance of contacting you have is from touching something someone else who has it has touched tbh, those and an waterless handwash gel.

iguana

Thaedydal wrote: »

Get yourself some disposable gloves and wear them, the greatest chance of contacting you have is from touching something someone else who has it has touched tbh, those and an waterless handwash gel.

I'm not too bothered about catching it now. In fact I'd rather catch it now and have it over and done with while I'm not pregnant and the NHS is operating well. Or at worst some sort of anti-bodies in my immune system if it mutates and the mutation also becomes a pandemic.

It's the level of danger to pregnant women and their babies that's worrying me. Whether the danger is high enough to reasonably warrant delaying conception and if so, for how long. We are getting conflicting information here, the NCT advised delaying while the DoH are saying it's fine, though the NCT say their information came from the DoH, who have now backtracked.

tallaght01

It's unlikely that you'll get anyone to tell you exactly what you should do in a situation like this. From being on the inside, I've been flabbergasted by how much importance is put on how the media will respond to any government announcement.
So, telling people to stop trying to become pregnant would cause a media storm that no-one will want.

But bear in mind that ANY flu is potentially damaging to the foetus. Having a flu jab while pregnant is always recommended. But obviously there's no jab available for swine flu yet. Anyone who does decide to go for it should google the phrase "respiratory etiquette". You'll find lots of links about how to minimise transmission of these kinds of viruses.

angeldelight

The Master of the Rotunda was on Moring Ireland on Radio 1 this morning and his basic message was that women do not need to "hold off" on conceiving due to fear over swine flu. He said use basic measures e.g. if you know someone has swine flu or has been in contact with it then avoid exposure to that person, would be sufficient. He was also very clear that he could not yet say whether the vaccine would be recommended for use in pregnant women as he did not have enough information.

If it were me I would just treat it like trying to avoid chicken pox while pregnant... just be very careful. Ralenza is available for treatment should a pregnant lady contract swine ful

tallaght01

I'm glad someone has come out and dealt with this issue publicly.

In a lot of countries (including Oz, sadly) the vast majority of docs are not allowed to talk to the media about this bug, so you only get some government spin.

We're using tamiflu for pregnant women, as opposed to Relenza. We're also hoping to vaccine will be able to be used in pregnant women, as it will be very similar to the current flu vaccine, which has a very good safety profile in pregnancy for most women.

iguana

tallaght01 wrote: »

We're using tamiflu for pregnant women, as opposed to Relenza.

Interesting, they are doing the opposite in the UK according to the NHS website.

My husband's boss's son has swine flu now and my husband spends several hours a day in a small, hot, windowless room with his boss and they both work 12-16 hours a day making them massively over-tired. So I wouldn't be too surprised if my husband is currently incubating piggy germs. I guess it depends on how careful his boss is being. The boy is doing pretty well, he's sick but not anything out of the ordinary.

CathyMoran

I am a type 1 diabetic so I am in contact with the diabetic Midwife a fair bit (we are ttc). I am being careful with anyone who seems sniffley as I always would be and avoiding any kids who have a rash (not flu related).

My sister in law has swine flu but she is in New Zealand - we got very upset when she got it but are getting used to it now.

Nevyn

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0720/swineflu.html

he Health Services Executive says it is not advising women to delay pregnancy due to the higher risk of complications from the human swine flu virus.

Dr Pat Doorley head of population health with the Executive said such a recommendation was not justified at this time.

He said the HSE had written to the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists asking doctors to be especially vigilant about acute breathing difficulties in patients.


The Executive is also advising that any pregnant woman who experiences breathing problems to contact their GP as soon as possible.

Dr Doorley said that the anti viral Tamiflu would be prescribed for any pregnant woman with the virus and said that it was safe to use in pregnancy.

Pregnant women are being advised to avoid contact with people who have flu symptoms.

The HSE's 24-hour flu information line is available on freephone 1800 94 11 00.

xzanti

Listen, there are always going to be bugs flying around... That's what makes us as strong as we are.. If you were to always be super sensitive to the 'bugs' going around, the human race would die... If we had the technology that we have now, when our mammys had us.. I'd imagine there was much worse crap flying around that we just never heard about... and here we are