Symptoms and causes
Thrush in pregnancy occurs in many women. The disease is caused by a special kind of fungus – Candida. Therefore, the official name of the disease is candidiasis.
The main symptoms of fungal infection during pregnancy is genital itching (sometimes intolerable), and white cheesy discharge with a sour smell. But these symptoms during pregnancy are not unique for fungal, but also for a number of other infections. That is why you must visit a gynecologist and take a series of tests for diagnosis. Although studies show that thrush in pregnancy does not bear harm to the unborn child and its mother, but it is an unfavorable factor that you need to get rid of. Fortunately, the methods of treatment of thrush in pregnancy are so far lacking. It is believed that carriers of candidiasis are almost all people: men and women. This infection lives in the body for years and may never manifest itself. If you have any symptoms of it, most of all, the thrush has arisen in connection with a decrease in immunity, which is just the same during pregnancy.
The appearance of the symptoms of fungal infection during pregnancy is caused by various factors. Often thrush during pregnancy is provoked by such mechanical factors, as the wearing of synthetic clothes and frequent rough sex acts that leads to traumatization of the vaginal walls.
Immunity may decrease due to infectious diseases and cancer, diseases of the circulatory system, tuberculosis, dysfunction of the sex glands, diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism, hypoglycemia, etc.
Exacerbation of thrush during pregnancy may be associated with the reception of certain drugs: antibiotics, corticosteroids, immune suppressors.
Also fungal infection during pregnancy can be caused by such conditions of the body as: vitamin deficiency, chronic diseases of the genitourinary system, bacterial vaginosis (vaginal dysbiosis), and gastrointestinal disease.
Some medical sources say that there is a relationship between the consumption of sweets and the occurrence of fungal infection during pregnancy.
Occurrence of thrush during pregnancy explains the physiological changes in the vaginal microflora. In pregnancy, the body increases the level of female hormones, which stimulates the creation of favorable conditions for the development of thrush.
Some experts believe that fungal infection during pregnancy can be transmitted sexually. But studies have shown that in 20% of women thrush appeared not during pregnancy, but even before.
Other experts believe that the “hotbed” of thrush in pregnancy is the intestines and stomach. And, in fact, this type of fungi found in the analysis of fecal of many women who suffer from the disease.
Diagnosing fungal infection during pregnancy
The first study, conducted by the appearance of symptoms of fungal infection during pregnancy is bacterioscopy. In other words, this is an ordinary swab, which a gynecologist takes during vaginal examinations with a special disposable spatula. For a more or less healthy woman, this procedure is absolutely painless. After that, the glass plates with the discharge from the vagina, cervix and urethra are sent to the laboratory, where their “contents” can be seen under a microscope.
This analysis is quite informative. Thrush in pregnancy can be detected even in the absence of symptoms.
If, however, a conventional swab has not revealed thrush, the culture method for detection of the pathogen is used during pregnancy. The taken material is carefully planted in a special fertile environment for fungi. And if they are still there, their presence in the near future will be easy to identify with a microscope.
The most accurate, but pretty expensive method is called PCR detection of infections. But, unfortunately, in the case of thrush in pregnancy it often gives false positive results. It is therefore considered more appropriate to use methods described above for the production of the diagnosis.
Treatment of thrush during pregnancy
It is known that during pregnancy most drugs, including those against thrush, are contraindicated. Therefore, it is not recommended to self-medicate. There are a lot of drugs, which have a detrimental effect on the causative agent of thrush, but not all of them can be taken during pregnancy.
Thrush in pregnancy is very common and its treatment is conducted only with safe topical medications (often “clotrimazole” and “Miconazole”). Regarding pills – they are less effective, but “Pimafucin” is absolutely safe for the treatment of thrush in pregnancy. It has no toxic effects on the fetus, even in large doses.
There are many ways to treat thrush during pregnancy with folk remedies. The most popular of them is cleaning the genitals with a decoction of oak bark, sodium tetraborate solution in glycerin, bath of calendula, etc. This treatment can help get rid of fungal infection symptoms during pregnancy, but the effect will be short-lived.
Here is one method of treatment of thrush during pregnancy. Many “old school” gynecologists still recommend it as the quickest way to get rid of this unpleasant disease. In 1 liter of water put a tablespoon of baking soda and add 1 teaspoon of iodine. Pour the resulting solution into a basin and sit in it for 20 minutes. Perform the procedure once a day for 2-3 days.
Thrush treatment during pregnancy should be carried out comprehensively. Firstly, it is necessary to identify the factor or factors that trigger its aggravation, whether it is a chronic or infectious disease or a lack of vitamins in the body.
In addition to the swab, to identify the causative agent the gynecologist usually recommended to take the following tests: a general analysis of blood, urine test, blood tests for HIV, and swab on STIs (sexually transmitted infections). It is also advisable to visit professionals such as an endocrinologist and a gastroenterologist. Having all the results of research you can develop the most effective tactics to treat thrush during pregnancy.
Prophylactic administration of multivitamins for pregnant women and the raising immunity are very helpful. Here traditional medicine is just useful.
How to avoid fungal infection during pregnancy?
Firstly, if you had manifestations of candidiasis even before pregnancy, the pregnancy should be planned at the time of disease remission after treatment of thrush.
During pregnancy you need to follow all the recommendations of the gynecologist carefully and run all the tests prescribed. Early detection of any infection or exacerbation of chronic diseases and proper treatment can help avoid recurrence of thrush during pregnancy.
As it was mentioned above, thrush during pregnancy occurs more frequently in women who are wrongly, poorly fed. The lack of essential vitamins and minerals leads to an exacerbation of any chronic diseases, including candidiasis.
Separately we can discuss the issue of sex. If your partner also has symptoms of thrush (yes, it happens in men too), the intimacy is possible only with the use of a condom.
Uncontrolled intake of drugs also leads to the appearance of symptoms of thrush during pregnancy. Therefore, in any case you cannot take any medical and semi-medical drugs without first consulting a specialist. Antibiotics are a good thing, but taking them at the first signs of a cold is still not worth it.
Do not wear tight underwear made of synthetic fabrics. This provokes the appearance of not only odors, but also thrush during pregnancy. During the entire pregnancy wear only cotton underwear.
So as you now understand, to get rid of fungal infection permanently is impossible, but it is real to make its recurrence bother you as little as possible. Thrush in pregnancy is an unpleasant condition, but quite easily treatable.
