How to reduce body heat naturally during pregnancy

High body temperature during pregnancy is linked to a number of ill effects on the baby. According to a study conducted by the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2018, women who had a fever before or during early pregnancy were more likely to have a baby with neural tube defects. Neural tube defects like spina bifida can have a crippling effect on babies born with them. The CDC also revealed that women who took 400g of folic acid before and during pregnancy were able to bypass this risk of neural tube defects.

A fever due to bacterial infections, especially urinary tract infections (UTIs) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), can also have long-term effects on the baby’s health because these can be passed on to the foetus and attack their immunity, too. This can increase complications during birth and after it.

Read more: Vitamin and minerals you need during pregnancy

Your normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 37 degrees Celsius. If your body temperature spikes a degree more than this, then you have a fever. There are a number of steps you can take to naturally reduce fever during pregnancy. Here are a few of these steps:

• Drink lots of fluids. Apart from electrolyte-enriched water, you can have fresh fruit juice, soups, broths, etc.
• Get plenty of rest so that your immunity can take over and fight the fever naturally.
• Soak a cloth in water, wring the excess water out and place the cloth on your forehead. This cold compress can also bring your fever down naturally.
• Take https://www.myupchar.com/en/healthy-foods/fruitsa sponge bath with lukewarm water or sit in a tub full of lukewarm water. Be mindful: if you use cold water, your temperature will rise more instead of cooling down.
• Eat simply cooked carbohydrates, proteins, and vegetables. Avoid fatty and spicy food.

It’s natural to feel hot during pregnancy. Your hormone levels are at a high after all. But during a heatwave, you should be extra careful and prevent your body temperature from rising too much. If you don’t take precautions, you can get a heat stroke or hyperthermia (overheating, which may lead to heat exhaustion). You should take the following steps to stay cool if you are pregnant and there’s a heatwave in your area:

• Drink plenty of fluids, since dehydration can lead to a number of complications during pregnancy.
• Stay in the shade or indoors instead of going out. If you’re indoors with an air conditioner on, don’t keep the temperature too low. This can cause additional complications as hypothermia can also set in. If you don’t have an air conditioner, use a fan and keep the curtains closed during the afternoon.
• Wear cotton clothes to stay cool.
• You can bathe a few times a day to stay cool too.
• Keep your hands, feet and wrists cool by putting them under running water.
• Put your feet up to reduce swelling due to heatwave.
• Avoid coffee and fatty foods that can dehydrate your body. Have fresh fruits and vegetables like cucumber, watermelons, etc. You should also have yoghurt.

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