Is Vaginal Douching during Pregnancy Good Or Harmful?

Pregnancy is something that brings a great lot of changes in the life of a woman and marks the start of an incredible journey. This journey brings along a lot many changes where there are weight gains, pains, nausea, etc that help the pregnant women to enjoy every phase of the trimester.

It is not only this but one can also face some of the illness and infections that might not harm the baby but may be stressful and dangerous for the pregnant lady. One such thing that leads to a situation of worry is douching duringpregnancy. It is very common that sometimes one sees a vaginal discharge and some bad odor from the vagina during the pregnancy. But douching at the time of pregnancy is not considered to be safe due to several reasons like-

·         The vagina is said to follow a self-cleaning process and doesn't need to be artificially cleaned in any way. There are many studies that indicate that there are huge health disadvantages for both pregnant and non-pregnant, who uses a vaginal douche for the cleaning process. The main and the biggest disadvantage is that douches disturb the natural and delicate chemical balance which is self generated in the vagina. Disrupting and disturbing this delicate balance can lead a woman with increased chances of getting infections by washing away the body's natural bacteria. These bacteria are required for fighting secretions and on the other hand, by introducing new bacteria into the vagina. This bacterium once entered the body can spread to the fallopian tubes, cervix and uterus disrupting the mucus plug which is commonly found in most pregnant women. Therefore, douches cause a higher risk of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) – which is a potentially fatal infection that affects the pelvic organs -- and bacterial vaginosis that means some vaginal bacteria imbalance, that causes pre-term delivery problems, infections in the baby and labor problems.

Hence, can you douche during pregnancy is a major concern and must have serious knowledge about its complications. Having a bad vaginal odour is normal. The acidity levels that are present in the vagina will naturally control the bacteria levels, and simply washing the vagina with warm water and mild soap is enough to keep help it stay clean. It is also seen in many cases that women who douche more than once a week are the ones that face difficulty getting pregnant than those who don't douche.

One should never experience any vaginal itching, burning or pain whether or not you're pregnant. It is not the douching that will fix this. One must be more alert and concerned when any unusual chemical balance or problems are seen when you're pregnant because it might transfer any infection to the baby. Hence, it is advisable to see the doctor as soon as possible if such symptoms are experienced. There are many vaginal deodorants available in the market, but they should only be used on the prescription of a doctor. Getting rid of odor is good but this odor goes off naturally.