Douching is a French word for soaking or washing. It refers to the
practice of splashing or cleaning out the intimate part of the woman’s body
like the inner parts of the vagina with water or mixture of fluids like water
and vinegar, water and baking soda, or diluted iodine. Some douche mixtures are
sold in supermarkets which have antiseptics, pH based water and fragrance. A
douche bag is the device which comes with a pouch or a bag form with a tube
which is used to insert in vagina and sprayed water.
Douching during
pregnancy is harmful and is clearly forbidden by the doctors.According to studies by renowned medical professionals, any
women either pregnant or not must not douche. Most women who douche claimed
that they did it just for take care of their vaginal area clean and odour-free.
The main problem of douching is that it goes on to disturb the equilibrium of
the good bacteria alongside the bad bacteria in the body. But a lot of women
especially in the age bracket of 15 to 44 years douche.
While douching doesn’t prevent
pregnancy and can’t be used as a form of contraception, it does reduce the changes of pregnancy significantly. Douching
after sex cleans the vagina of the sperms, and this is why a lot of teenage
girls douche. But one should keep in mind that this is not a way to prevent
pregnancy.
So can you
douche during pregnancy?
The clear-cutanswer
is NO. Douching worryingly increases the chances of ectopic pregnancy which
makes it difficult to conceive in the future even if you want to. Douching
during pregnancy may cause early delivery of the foetus, which badly affects
the health of baby and sometimes is even life threatening. Douching may also
increase your proximity to HPV; genital wart causing protozoa and other
bacteria some of them may also cause cancer.
Douches are made of plastic, and to
soften the plastic (as in case of toys) phthalates and other chemicals are
used. Using a douche increases your exposure to such chemicals. These chemicals
are very harmful to your baby and can cause developmental and behavioral issues
if you baby comes in contact with it in the womb.
Now, the problem is what to do
instead of douching? What should be done to clean the vagina? The bestway would be to allow the vagina
clean and take care of its own by forming mucus. Your vagina purifies itself
naturally by discharging some fluids that drain out decayed cells, bacteria,
and even semen. But if you still want, you can wash the outer part of vagina by
lukewarm water and pH balanced washes and soaps. You should understand that, a
healthy vagina will not smell of lavender and roses, but will smell just like
our normal body odour is. A doctor should be consulted in case you have a thick
vaginal discharge or swelling or redness in and around vagina or coloured
discharge- like yellow, green, etc. or if you experience pain during urinating
or having sex.
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