When I found out I was pregnant, I had an array of questions and concerns that I immediately needed to address. One of my main worries was how my prior activities and habits prior to knowing I was pregnant had affected my unborn child. One of my greatest concerns was whether or not I had exposed my unborn child to any potential health risks due to my past activities. One of the activities I had engaged in prior to knowing my pregnancy status was the recreational use of nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas. It can be used for a variety of medical purposes, but it can also be used recreationally. I was concerned that my recreational use of nitrous oxide before I knew I was pregnant had put my unborn child at risk.
In this blog post, I will be exploring the potential risks associated with recreational use of nitrous oxide before knowing I was pregnant, as well as offering advice to other expectant mothers on how to best address any similar concerns they may have.
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How do you use nitrous oxide during labor?
According to anecdotal evidence, nitrous oxide works best when women begin breathing it 30 to 60 seconds before their next contraction, allowing the gas’s peak effect to happen during the contraction’s peak. Particularly in the early stages of labor when contractions may not be regular or predictable, this process is not exact. According to studies, nitrous oxide has a similar analgesic effect to patient-administered, short-acting narcotics like an IV PCA pump.
If a laceration needs to be repaired or a retained placenta needs to be manually removed during labor, nitrous oxide can be used. Since the effects wear off so quickly, switching to a different type of anesthesia can be done right away. Nitrous oxide can even be used during epidural placement.
The American College of Nurse Midwives, in a 2009 statement, advocated for availability of the gas and recommended that, when available, midwives be trained to oversee its safe use. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has not issued a statement regarding the use of nitrous oxide in pregnancy.
Hello, I work in teratology. Up until 12 weeks of pregnancy, a baby is at risk for structural defects, but well before this time, folate has completed its work in terms of neural tube closure and other developmental tasks. There is absolutely no evidence to support the notion that using nitric oxide during the second trimester will result in birth defects in the fetus.
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Last weekend, I was attending a festival and acting extremely well, until I went to bed early one night, and before I knew it, a friend of mine was in my tent making a nitrous balloon for herself (I don’t believe she knew I was pregnant). She offered me one, but I declined right away, saying I didn’t want to do anything that might endanger my unborn child. She then convinced me that it would be fine because they use nitrous during labor, so I foolishly agreed and had one. A decision I am now kicking myself for. When I went home and looked it up on Google, the words “tetrogenic” kept coming to mind, and I couldn’t stop thinking about what I had done and how much I had, but my baby was still at risk. I am terrified that I have hurt my baby and of the consequences for my family and my husband. I’m terrified and ashamed of what I did. I’ve been eating a lot of foods high in b12 and folic acid because, according to Google, nitrous is bad for you because it depletes your stores of these nutrients. Please let me know what my risks are as I am in my second trimester. I don’t need a lecture; I am already horrified by what I did. I haven’t had a drink since I was pregnant, and I even stopped taking my multivitamins after learning they might be harmful. One moment of stupidity, and I’m afraid my entire life could be ruined.
If so, the drug you inhale from the “cream” canisters is different from the ones in the labor ward because that one is mixed with oxygen and the cream canisters are not. @Feelingveryashamedandstupid Did you use it from a canister and inhale from a balloon? One of the reasons the effect is so strong is due to the temporary disruption of normal blood gases that occurs along with inhaling the drug. You become temporarily hypoxic (lacking in oxygen) and hypercapnic (increase on carbon dioxide in blood) when you breathe in and out of the balloon. If you used the “hyperventilation into a balloon” technique, the potential temporary loss of oxygen would be the issue instead of the drug; even in that case, the issue would only last a short while, and the lack of oxygen and increase in CO2 would quickly go away with normal breathing.
I just found this thread on the internet, and I can completely relate to how you must have felt because I’m going through it myself right now. I feel sick with worry. I foolishly inhaled half a no2 balloon for the first time in my life, and the next day I discovered that I was pregnant (I had no prior knowledge of no2 or a potential pregnancy). The following day, I visited the doctor and had my blood tested for folic acid and vitamin B12. My b12 is normal and folic acid is high. I just dont know what to do. Im petrified that the damage has already been done. I would only be 4 weeks pregnant. I’m going crazy. Has anyone else gone through something similar? Could this much NO2 have hurt the baby?
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