Is a humidifier safe for pregnancy?
Pregnancy is a sensitive period for every patient. It’s a time of change when it comes to your health and wellness. You should consider unique dietary and lifestyle choices and adopt a variety of wellness strategies to fit your needs during pregnancy. That probably requires more holistic and personalized consideration than you’ve ever had before.
One of the issues that pregnant women encounter is dry air. And you may not have heard of it yet, but it is something that you have to be wary about. Humidifiers can counteract this problem. But first, you should know why low humidity is not good for pregnancy.
Why Is Dry Air Bad For Pregnant Women?
Dry air is the phenomenon where the air is low with moisture. Naturally, air carries water vapor. But in some instances, this doesn’t happen. It is especially true if the temperature is low.
The carrying capacity of the air lowers as the temperature drops. It is one of the reasons why winter is often marked with arid air. And things get awful if you run your heaters to combat the coldness.
Oppositely, when the air is warm, it is natural for it to carry more water. Hence, you should never be surprised if it feels wet and damp during summer or hot days.
Keep in mind that air that is too dry or too wet is bad for the health, especially for pregnant women. You might need a humidifier or dehumidifier based on the situation that you are dealing with.
There are a lot of health issues that dry air can cause to pregnant women and individuals with sensitive conditions. Depending on the degree or extent of exposure, a person may get the worst case out of these symptoms.
Respiratory Ailments
If you are pregnant, you should never expose yourself to poorly humid conditions. After all, the latter can aggravate symptoms of asthma and cold. Keep in mind that dry air easily saps the fluid in the bronchial tubes, which, in turn, makes them prone to irritations. Asthma, bronchitis, and other sinus problems are among the common aftermaths of this problem.
Sore Throat
Pregnancy is a tough time. It makes a person more sensitive to discomforts. No woman wants to experience sore throats during their pregnancy. But it may happen if the air in their homes is dry. The combination of low temperature and arid air simply triggers a sore throat.
Dry Skin
Women want to have healthy and glowing skin. It is one of their assets, and they are quite into it. In fact, skin-based cosmetics are among the most bought beauty products, and it is a testament to the degree of care women want for their skin. But these things are worthless if you are riddled with dry air problems in your home. Low humidity removes the natural moisture in your skin. And that causes cracks and irritations.
Nosebleed
If you experience nose bleeding all of a sudden, you need to check if your indoor air is dry. Keep in mind that dry air makes your nasal passages vulnerable to cracks. A little scratch can start the bleeding already. Of course, it is a sight that you want to see if you are pregnant. It can send you into unnecessary panic or worry.
Stress
We all know that pregnancy causes hormonal changes in the body. It results in mood swings among women, and that’s natural. But did you know that dry air can aggravate the stress and anxiety that a person can feel? According to a study released by PubMed, researchers found that those individuals exposed to dry air have heart rates that are akin to the feeling of stress.
Dehydration
When dry air kicks in, it is possible for pregnant women to experience dehydration. This is especially true if you have been surrounded by low humidity for an extended period. Of course, this is a harmful predicament. It is always recommended by physicians that women should maintain proper dehydration throughout their pregnancy. The water doesn’t only support them, but the child in their belly, too.
Humidifiers For Pregnancy
As many of you might have guessed, low humidity problems can be solved by simply improving the moisture content of your indoor air. You can achieve that easily by placing a humidifier in your home.
The job of a humidifier is pretty simple. The simplest one, which is an evaporative humidifier, simply evaporates water in the air through the form of mist or steam. The added water boosts the humidity level in a given area, hence, improving its overall indoor condition.
Humidifiers are designed to benefit their users. No humidifiers have been found out to cause adverse effects to people–even for pregnant women. In fact, these appliances are helpful to them, especially in relieving the discomfort and uneasiness they feel due to dry air.
But at the same time, proper caution is still essential whenever using these humidifiers.
After all, if you leave these humidifiers unchecked, they can cause condensation. The latter promotes bacterial and mold growth, which may cause other health issues such as allergies.
Is A Humidifier Safe For Pregnancy?
The short answer to this question is a yes.
As long as the humidifier is appropriately used, then you should have no problems at all. As mentioned early, these humidifiers can benefit your health by removing the harmful effects of low humidity.
A humidifier improves the relative humidity of your indoor space, making it more breathable and healthier. It prevents you from getting allergies, irritations, and other illnesses that could harm your baby.
At this point, it is essential that you know how to use a humidifier responsibly. Just because a humidifier is a seemingly harmful device doesn’t mean that you can be too careless when it comes to it.
Here are some guidelines on how you can use them properly:
- Humidifiers can cause condensation, especially if you let them run, even if your air is already humid. Too much water in the air is the perfect environment for molds to grow!
- Hence, you should only use a humidifier only when the air is dry. If not, then it should be idle. One of the ways that you can determine indoor humidity is by using a hygrometer. The latter is a device that measures humidity, and it is a very cheap investment to get.
- Alternatively, you can also get humidifiers that have built-in humidistat. In this way, you will no longer have to babysit the humidifier all the time. These humidistats also read the relative humidity of an area and adjust the output of the humidifier accordingly.
- You should prefer using evaporative humidifiers than ultrasonic ones. Ultrasonic humidifiers are silent and efficient, but they are quite prone to spewing minerals and impurities since they don’t often have filters on them. Evaporative humidifiers are desirable for pregnant women and babies because they are gentler and cleaner.
- Place the humidifier in an area not too close to you. You can put it in the center of the room or an elevated platform where it can distribute its mist thoroughly.
In Summary
A humidifier is safe for pregnancy as long as you use it properly. When used in moderation, a humidifier benefits your body in a number of ways. It also improves the air quality of your home, which is essential for those child-rearing women.
That’s it for now. If you have inquiries, feel free to ask me in the comment section below.