The period of pregnancy is reflected in different ways on the course of an allergic disease present in a pregnant woman. Sometimes carrying a child does not affect the allergy and its symptoms in any way, sometimes the disease subsides during pregnancy. But most often during pregnancy, there is an exacerbation of allergic diseases. Especially exacerbation during the period of childbearing is characteristic of bronchial asthma and atopic dermatitis.

Factors influencing the exacerbation of allergic manifestations are a flatter diaphragm than before pregnancy, increased pressure inside the chest, increased need for oxygen saturation, increased bronchial activity and, finally, hormonal balance.

Very often, pregnancy causes symptoms that look similar to allergies. More than half of pregnant women complain of nasal congestion. In fact, a stuffy nose may not be a symptom of an allergy, but may be due to exposure to the hormone progesterone. This symptom is called hormonal rhinitis. In addition , in the last months of pregnancy, there is a risk of dermatitis that is not allergic in nature. 

Itching, the desire to comb any parts of the body in pregnant women, a red rash on the abdomen is noted in a relatively small number of women carrying a child. Such manifestations are observed in the second and third trimesters. They are not allergic symptoms.

How to diagnose allergies in pregnant women

For pregnant women, slightly different methods and methods for diagnosing allergies are used. For the diagnosis of allergies in pregnant women, the use of such diagnostic methods as the method of allergic provocation, the use of irritants-allergens of a nonspecific nature, physical overstrain and some others is completely excluded . These diagnostic methods can lead to a deterioration in the well-being of a pregnant woman or even the risk of termination of pregnancy, in other words, threaten the fetus. 

Diagnosis of allergies in pregnant women must be performed using anamnestic collection, general medical and non-instrumental examinations, and laboratory examinations.

Allergy treatment in pregnant women

When treating allergies in pregnant women, it is extremely important to remove all possible allergens and reduce exposure to non-specific allergens. If a pregnant woman has a food allergy, then a special hypoallergenic diet is required. In addition, it is necessary to observe the optimal working conditions for the rest of a pregnant woman. 

Monitoring a pregnant woman if she has allergies should be carried out not only by an obstetrician-gynecologist, but also by an allergist. In the course of carrying a child, it is necessary to continue taking antiallergic medications in order to prevent complications of allergies throughout the entire period of pregnancy. In this case, one must be extremely careful about the choice of drugs, focusing on their harmlessness to the body of a pregnant woman and her child. Preference should be given to drugs of local action.

The use of drugs such as aminophylline and theophylline during pregnancy is excluded, since there is evidence of their negative effect on the child and the well-being of the expectant mother.

The exacerbation of such a disease in pregnant women as bronchial asthma is better to suppress in a medical hospital, since it is there that you can constantly monitor the health of the child and mother.