Nitrous oxide and pregnancy

[Feelingveryashamedandstupid]

I was at a festival last weekend and behaving myself very well indeed until.

I put myself to bed early one evening and before I knew it a friend of mine was in my tent and was making herself a nitrous balloon (I don't think she knew I was pregnant) she offered me one and I quickly refused, saying I didn't want to do anything to put my baby at risk. She then persuaded me that it would be ok and they use nitrous in labour so it would be fine, I stupidly said ok and had one. A decision I am now kicking myself for.

I came home to google it and the words tetrogenic are sticking in my head and I just cannot stop thinking about what I have done and how much I have but my baby at risk. I am petrified I have harmed my baby and am terrified of the repercussions of this with my family and my husband. I'm so scared and so ashamed of what I have done.

From what Google has told me, nitrous is harmful because it depletes your b12 and folic acid stores, so I have been eating lots of foods rich in these. I am in my second trimester, can some please advise me what my risks are. I don't want a lecture, I am already devastated by my actions; I have not had one drink since being pregnant and even stopped my multivitamins after reading they could be harmful, one moment of stupidness and I'm worried my whole life could be ruined.

[JustGotMyBabyOnBoardBadge]

Isn't that the stuff that is used in gas and air for labour...can't imagine what you did will affect the baby if they allow it to be used for literally HOURS (and sometimes days) before the bay is born.

Us pregnant women are so hard on ourselves for every little thing we do during pregnancy, chances are a single 'anything' is not likely to make much of a difference (people used to drink and smoke before and most of us are ok )

So I say chill - the first trimester is the one not to fanny about in (however it was 6 weeks before I knew I was pregnant and managed to do an all inclusive holiday during that time along with some mega parties!!) and therefore in the great scheme of things it should not matter. Don't beat yourself up......

[LittlePeasMummy1]

Hello,

I work in teratology. The risk period for structural defects in the baby is up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, and well before this point, folate has done its job in terms of neural tube closure etc. There is no reason at all to think that use of nitric oxide in the second trimester will cause birth defects in the baby.

[Feelingveryashamedandstupid]

Thank you so much, I have without a doubt learned a lesson.

[LittlePeasMummy1]

Just relax and take care of yourself :)

[Rudn]

I've just come across this thread on the internet and I know exactly how you must have felt as i'm living this right now.
I feel sick with worry. I, for the first time in my life, stupidly inhaled half a no2 balloon and then found out the following day that I'm pregnant( I knew nothing about no2 or a potential pregnancy). I went to the doctor the day after and had my blood checked for vitamin B12 and folic acid. My b12 is normal and folic acid is high.
I just don't know what to do. I'm petrified that the damage has already been done. I would only be 4 weeks pregnant.
Has anyone else experienced anything similar?Could this amount of NO2 have harmed the baby? I'm going out of my mind

[MadisonMama]

Hi! Had a similar experience just before I know I was pregnant (late week 4, early 5). Was wondering what your experiences ended up being. I’m panicking.

[Sillygrl112]

Hey Madison, what did you do here, I’m in an almost identical situation

[thingymaboob]

@Feelingveryashamedandstupid Did you use it from a canister and inhale from a balloon? If so, the drug you inhale from the "cream" canisters is different to the ones in the labour ward as that one is mixed with oxygen and the cream canisters are not. The action of inhaling and exhaling in and out of the balloon also makes you temporarily hypoxic (lacking in oxygen) and hypercapnic (increase on carbon dioxide in blood) which is one of the reasons the effect is so powerful (because of temporary disruption to normal blood gases alongside inhalation of the drug). The drug is not the problem, it will be the potentially temporary loss of oxygen if you used the "hyperventilation into a balloon" method but even then it'll just be short lived and lack of oxygen and increase in co2 will resolve quickly with normal breathing.

[thingymaboob]

@Feelingveryashamedandstupid sorry, just realised this was an old thread!

[Sillygrl112]

I did it from a canister and balloon a week or so after conception and before implantation.