Yeast Infection in Pregnancy
Women who get a yeast infection in pregnancy are usually terribly bothered by it. Unfortunately, the symptoms are often very familiar to women as well because most women
have experienced a yeast infection at one time in their lives. A pregnancy yeast infection is important to understand and to treat in a timely manner.
What is a yeast infection?
A yeast infection is an overabundance of a certain type of fungus in your vagina. The fungus is called candida and can cause many symptoms. Because pregnancy more than
doubles the chance that a woman will get a yeast infection, this is a common issue to present to your doctor or midwife for diagnosis and treatment.
Who gets yeast infections?
Nearly everyone is susceptible to yeast infections, but some people have characteristics that predispose them to an abundance of candida in their bodies. Women who are
pregnant, eat diets high in refined sugar, and have diabetes are more likely to get recurrent yeast infections.
What are the symptoms of a yeast infection?
The symptoms of a yeast infection includes white, thick, cottage-cheese-type vaginal discharge, intense itching of the vulva, and redness of the infected area. Women are
often awakened in the middle of the night with intense bouts of itching.
To find out for sure if your symptoms indeed are due to a yeast infection in pregnancy, consult your doctor or midwife. He or she will get a scraping from the inside of the
vagina for a wet mount slide and will be able to see the spores of the fungus. Your doctor or midwife will then likely choose to treat your infection.
Treatment
Most pregnancy yeast infections are treated with over-the-counter treatments, cream suppositories that are inserted into the vagina. These anti-fungal suppositories
also will help control the intense itching. Usually, these are 7-day regimens, though there are 3-day treatments available as well. Talk to your doctor or midwife before you treat
any signs of vaginal discharge yourself.
Recurrent Yeast Infections
Recurrent yeast infections are not common (about 5% of women get recurrent infections), but if you get another bout of yeast, your doctor or midwife might want to treat your
sexual partner as well. Yeast infections can be passed from person to person sexually. Additionally, your provider might want to treat you for a longer period of
time to help knock out the yeast.
To avoid getting a recurrent yeast infection in pregnancy, you can do the following:
- * Finish all medications prescribed to you
- * Wear cotton underwear
- * Do not douche
- * Use a fragrance-free soap
- * Immediately change out of wet clothes
- * Restrict your nutritional intake of refined sugar
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