Swine flu and pregnant - what would you do?

[devotion]

I'm pregnant and the chances of getting swine flu are so high now that i am worried about what you can do when pregnant?

Plus do you have to have the tamiflu medication if you get it or can you just fight it yourself like normal flu?

Are children able to fight it, three people in my family just had a terrible bout of flu so how do you know the difference?

I maybe over reacting.

Thank you

Waves at Devotion!

Hi, thanks for starting this thread - I'm pretty unclued up on Swine Flu as it doesn't seem to have been that big here in France, but I am pg, and I travel regularly for work, particularly to the UK and I'm going back there for a wedding soon. I picked up a two day old Guardian in the airport this morning and read all about the fact that the number of cases has double each week for the last few weeks (or something like that) AND that pg women are considered high risk AND that in America a young man with no underlying health problems suffered a fatal dose. Cue panic, not on my behalf as you can't worry about things like that, but I am worried on behalf of my bean, so thanks for the info and advice everyone.

flyingcloud - yoooo hoooooooo! (waves back)

By Musu's post we've had it as a family and ridden it out, I do hope that is the case

devotion of course you're not being silly to worry, who wouldn't?

Boffin Mum - thank you for telling us about that - I'm so sorry you lost baby no.3

Hello everyone. My daughter and I have bee diagnosed with Swine flu over the past 24 hours and been given Tamiflu, told to stay home for 5 days. My concern is, they tell me HPA will be in touch-they haven't. And, to continue sending my 10 year old to same primary school, because he has no symptoms! Now surely, this defeats the purpose of us staying inside and having no visitors for 5 days if I'm sending my other child to school? I'm not sure if that is right? What about other women who are pregnant or have children with health problems. Although my child has no symptoms now, obviously my child is in close contact with TWO people who have got it, and hopefully won't, but may later also show symptoms. I'm not sure what to do. My heart tells me its wrong. But if I keep him home, the school will no doubt cause all sorts of problems for unauthorised absence. Is it right to send him to school?

Personally speaking, I would ring the school, and tell them I was keeping my child home because I was not not sure whether they had swine flu or not and I felt it was the responsible thing to do. That would count as authorised absence because of sickness.

Any problems from the school, and it would be worth ringing the Educational Welfare Officer at the Local Authority and saying the same thing. I am sure they have better things to do than bully the quarantined.

Nobody is going to fine you for being a responsible citizen listening to your conscience, and if they do, I will bloody well come up there in my professional capacity and sort them out.

It is the official advice, though it is thought that children can be contagious a short while before they display symptoms.

But you could phone the school and say that he seems a bit under the weather (a lot of kids do seem rather tired and whingy as its the end of the school year) and you aren't sure if he is coming down with it or not.

Hope you both feel better swiftly.

Boffin- I had that 1999 flu at around New Year 1999. It was horrible. Very sorry that you lost a baby to it.

Not a day goes past where I wonder what he/she would be like now. They think it died on the Millennium Eve (although we didn't realise until later). What a momento.

I bitterly regret not having a flu jab that winter.

I am so sorry BoffinMum.

Thanks for sympathy people. xx

BoffinMum I am so sorry to hear that.

My DH has just come home to say that someone in his (small) office has got swine flu. I'm 37 weeks pregnant and have a 2 year old.. I can't really do anything though can I, and can't work out whether it would be 'safer' for me to get it now whilst the baby is inside me rather than the newborn catching it whilst it's maybe less protected?

Don't want to discuss it now for a bit. However thanks for interest.

PS I am going to bf until epidemic is over.

can you get the flu jab when you are pregnant?

Boffinmum - sorry this thread has brought up painful memories for you. Can not imagine how sad that time was for you.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

devotion, someone in my office has swine flu and I rang our GP for advice. He said that as it was relatively mild at the moment I shouldn't worry. If I had been exposed I couldn't stop getting it as Tamiflu isn't recommended in pregnancy, and if I did get it I should keep my temp down but that was it. There was no other way of treating it. There is currently no vaccine for Swine Flu, the current flu jab won't protect you against swine flu as it is a different strain. The swine flu vaccine will be available from about October and they'll start giving it to high risk groups. I didn't ask about whether that included pg people, figured I'd wait until October and ask again (if I hadn't already had swine flu by then)

Thanks Headfairy
Hope you escape it and if not then you get a mild dose of it.
Take care x

A few girls in daughter's have been confirmed as having swine flu. Daughter and her siblings finish school for the summer tomorrow, and they all seem well on the whole, so I'm hoping we'll escape it while I'm still pregnant (am 34+3 now). Hope we don't get it while the baby is still tiny though.

sorry- "daughter's school". Actually two in her class.

I'm 31 weeks pg and have a dd 2.9. 2 weeks ago i had what i considered to be a terrible cold made worse by being pregnant. Had runny nose, sort throat, achy muscles, fever and general malaise. Stayed in bed for 2 days and slept, all the symptoms apart from the noseand sore throat went away they took about 10 days to clear.

Assumed it was nasty cold, could it have been swine flu? Haven't been in direct contact with anyone who's had it as far as i know. Have seen patients at work (CAMHS) who have cases of it in their school (but they don't have it) and went to an in-patient unit yesterday for a meeting where there was a big sign on the door saying not to go in unless absolutely neccessary due to "viral infection". Am assuming it must be swine flu.

Just abit worried about the implications really, would rather get it now and fight it off than nearer due date, also worried about new babe getting it in winter.

Is it really so much worse for pg women? Dh has come home from work with a streaming nose, sore throat and feeling terrible but again thinks it's a cold not swine flu. Should he phone gp?

Sorry lots of questions just like to be prepared!

Hi all - I am about 5 weeks pregnant and a diabetic (which is well controlled) and spoke to my GP about swine flu couple days ago. She emphasised it is really v mild at the minute (she had visited someone with it) and that it should not cause problems to the baby. An inhaler coming out in Aug/Sept apparently

I have a real dilemma. My partner has swine flu and although a week ago I was panicking that I had been into contact with someone I am actually quite calm that he has it, I am 18 weeks pregnant.
My issue is that we are due to drive to France next Tues. My partner is recovering well and although it was nasty he dealt with it fine. Myself and my two children (3 and 5) have no symptons whatsoever but am aware they could develop at any time.

Should we go away at all? The thing I am worried about most is getting the symptons on our travels. We are covered on our travel insurance for both cancellation and illness. This is our main family holiday and the kids cannot wait but am I putting them at risk by taking them away.

I am quite a logically person and now that the serious risk is small but can't fine out any info enaywhere. If we get in france who do we contact for example. Someone has told me you go to a chemist which will provide tmaiflu or the other one for pregnant people. Any advise will be greatly received.