I have a cough...

[Kezmum14]

I’m 24 weeks pregnant and have had a cough for the past 6 days. I have not self isolated - the reasons for this is i haven’t felt unwell, my cough isn’t dry and I’ve not had a fever. With the news over the past 2 days I don’t know if I’ve done the wrong thing... I did call the doctor a couple of days ago for a repeat prescription and she asked if I was well, I mentioned my cough and she just asked that I get someone to collect the prescription on my behalf. Nothing about that I should be self isolating. Up until last night I’ve not been worried at all but today feel overwhelmed with panic.
Has anyone else got a cough and cold and feel fine? I don’t want to burden the midwives or doctors and I think the advice is to self isolate For 7 days (even though the cough isn’t dry) but does anyone know for sure?

Self isolate for 7 days; if you live with anyone they need to isolate for 14 days. Severity is irrelevant. You only need to get other hcps involved if you are very unwell in which case call 111.

I think the advice for pregnant women is to self isolate for as much as possible in any case?

Re cough, the guidance does say a dry cough rather than productive so I'd assume you don't have to self isolate. But still in your case if I could get someone else to pick up prescriptions etc I probably would.

Yes definitely :) thanks for the replies.
I’m going to get the children from school and self isolate. I just feel like a fraud as I’m really not Ill. X

@Splitsunrise Where did you read about it being a dry cough? All I've seen on the NHS and government websites for the past 5 days are to self-isolate for 7 days if you have a continuous cough or a fever – nothing on the type or severity.

@Kezmum14 You probably should have self-isolated but nothing to do about that now, so no point worrying, unless you weren't washing your hands or covering your mouth when coughing. I'd isolate for a few days now to see if you develop a fever or the cough gets worse, then go back to normal if not.

Forgot to add that you need to follow the new guidelines now, so the rest of your household should self-isolate for what would be 14 days from when you first had a cough.

I read it was a dry cough on the NHS website but I think it must have been updated as I can’t find that anywhere now.
The doctor did say call back on day 7 as they can book me in for the flu jab once I’ve had a cough for 7 days and it hasn’t gotten worse. My head hurts form trying to decipher all the government information that isn’t clear and sometimes doesn’t make sense

@Williams3001 yes we will all self isolate for 14 days.

Just googled - www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses WHO says dry cough, though you're right the NHS does just say a new continuous cough now.

OP self isolate for sure and don't feel like a fraud, you're doing it for the safety of others not yourself

To be honest given it's such a new strain they don't know everything about it, so I would imagine the symptoms vary a fair bit.

WHO say dry, persistent cough. I’ve had this debate as my DD & OH have had chesty, snotty and none persistent coughs this week. I spoke to my GP yesterday who said they aren’t presenting as typical corona coughs so we probably didn’t need to isolate. I found the probably very annoying, so they have both isolated 🤷🏼‍♀️

For actual symptoms, I’m following WHO as opposed to the NHS. I’m not entirely convinced the government knows what it’s doing 🤦🏼‍♀️ And WHO is global.

Then why has government changed advice to just a continuous cough I wonder? Maybe it didn't want to risk people not knowing what was a dry cough and ignoring it...

I was in for fetal monitoring with a bad cold. Phlegmy cough and no temp so not a concern.