What Are The Effects Of Dehydration During Pregnancy?
Dehydration during the first trimester of pregnancy carries two risks:
Morning sickness can cause dehydration, which can then cause nausea, creating a vicious cycle. When you’re queasy, you don’t want to drink more water, which makes you feel queasy. A pregnant woman may need to be hospitalized for IV fluid administration if she does not drink enough fluids to prevent dehydration (6).
During the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, dehydration might pose the risk of premature births. It is one of the reasons for premature contractions (7).Related:
How Much Water Should You Drink When Pregnant?
According to Liesel Teen, BSN, RN, the founder of Mommy Labor Nurse, “During pregnancy, your blood volume increases by approximately 50%, which means you need even more water to combat dehydration.” Thus, you need to drink eight to ten glasses of water daily (8).
The quantity may take into account the beverages you consume, but ideally, you should choose plain water as your first choice. Juice, milk, tea, and coffee are examples of fluids that contain water and contribute to your fluid intake, but they also provide additional calories.
During pregnancy, your body requires more water to carry out additional functions.
There is a small chance you’ll have extreme morning sickness
Because Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, had hyperemesis gravidarum—severe morning sickness—during each of her three pregnancies, you may be familiar with the condition, but it affects people of all socioeconomic classes.
Only 3% of pregnant women will experience hyperemesis gravidarum, a rare condition that typically results in a woman losing more than 5% of her pre-pregnancy weight and becoming dehydrated.
“If left untreated, hyperemesis gravidarum can cause rare complications like fetal growth restriction, malnutrition, and esophageal tears, among other things,” says Beard. “It can affect daily function, impair a woman’s ability to work, cause anxiety.”
Your doctor may order lab tests to screen for underlying causes of vomiting unrelated to pregnancy or assess for complications of severe vomiting if you vomit three or more times per day, experience dizziness, dehydration symptoms like dark urine, constipation, or weight loss. These tests, which measure your electrolytes, blood counts, and urine ketones, can help your doctor determine if you have hyperemesis gravidarum. An ultrasound may be recommended in some circumstances to look for multiples.
The good news is that hyperemesis gravidarum can be successfully treated.
You can stay hydrated with intravenous fluids (IVs), anti-nausea drugs can lessen some of the vomiting, and for women with extremely severe cases, IV nutrition may be required.