Lack of oxygen to the baby during pregnancy?

[AnaCav]

Hey everyone, I’m freaking out because of something that happened this week and I have no idea if I’m being irrational or if this might be a concern. I’m 18 weeks pregnant at the moment.

I had a ‘Mother-to-be’ massage this week and during the massage, it was policy of the facility for me to use a mask during the session, roughly during the 60 minutes while I was with the therapist. As it is normal during the massage, they put a folded towel over my eyes, while they did the massage. I had an FFP2 respirator mask on, which offers great protection against Covid (better than surgical masks) but it makes breathing harder + a little towel over and around my eyes (supposedly to make the client more relaxed during the massage), but which now I think it could also prevent air from entering through those open spaces around the eyes close to the nose where the mask doesn’t fit well.
During the massage I was very aware to keep track if I was breathing fine, since with a FFP2 mask it is always a bit uncomfortable. I would take deep breaths with my mouth, to make sure I had enough air going in, and I was very calm/relaxed. But ever since I finished the massage, I’ve entered into this kind of paranoia about whether I had enough air during the massage, whether the towel they put over my eyes had partially blocked the FFP2 mask, if somehow I entered a state of hypoxia (lack of oxygen in blood/tissues) without knowing or becoming aware of it, whether I got contaminated by too much CO2 I was exhaling since I had the mask on, etc.. During the massage I felt zero symptoms of anything, just that it wasn’t super easy to breathe like it happens with FFP2 and other masks in general, and I only felt a super, tiny, moment of headache later when I got home, that lasted just a few seconds, when I was already in a state of spiraling/worrying/fearful about this + I was feeling hungry.

So I am in this spiral, thinking I somehow hurt my baby’s brain development.

I feel like I lost the ability to rationally think about this and I’m just obsessing over having potentially harmed the baby’s brain or something else.

Can anyone help me see this with clarity? Am I panicking over nothing or should I be concerned?

If you inhale too much CO2 you get dizzy and/or start to feel breathless. Your baby will be completely fine!

Back near the beginning of the pandemic, I watched a video of a doctor proving how you didn’t get any less oxygen to your lungs wearing a mask.

I think your baby will be fine.

Wearing a mask makes no difference at all to how much oxygen you are breathing in. If it did then doctors worldwide would have been collapsing at work for years and years. Fibre glass insulation fitters wear masks for hours, people in factories have been wearing them for years doing hard physical work without collapsing.

I understand you are more aware of keeping your body healthy and protecting your child, but honestly this is an anxiety that makes no logical sense and you need to try to push past it.

if somehow I entered a state of hypoxia (lack of oxygen in blood/tissues) without knowing or becoming aware of it

If you were hypoxic, you would know.
This is just pregnancy hormones spiking your anxiety. Please don't worry yourself!

You will be fine. Your body knows to prioritise the baby rather than, for example, your finger tips IF you were very short of oxygen.
Healthcare workers do CPR etc in full PPE which is like running a marathon.
Your baby is fine. Don't even think about it.

Thank you all so much. You are giving me much needed clarity/objectivity on this

(It is my first pregnancy and I suddenly worry about things I did not anticipate. So thank you for helping me)

I think the thing that's been messing me up is the visual of having had the mask covering my mouth/nose and the small towel covering my eye area and the potential overlap. it just looks claustrophobic in hindsight even though it did not really feel like it while I was there

I've had to wear masks for 10 years in my job (FFP3s). Lots of colleagues have been pregnant, and most recently me, last year. The masks have never been an issue

I've had hypoxic convulsions in the past , trust me you would know if your oxygen levels dropped enough to do damage to you or the baby. You'd feel absolutely awful

You’re panicking about nothing. It’s not correct that you would always notice hypoxia (otherwise “happy hypoxia” wouldn’t exist) but that’s induced by illness, not wearing a mask.

For the past two years we have been wearing FFP3 masks pretty much constantly at work. They do not cause anyone to be hypoxic! Absolutely nothing to worry about there.

You're panicking about nothing 🤷🏻‍♀️

If NEUROSURGEONS can wear a mask for hours doing exceptional work then so can you

Thank you guys, what you're saying makes a lot of sense and is helping me come back to rationality

To reassure you further my Aunt actually stopped breathing during pregnancy and required resuscitation. Obviously they were very worried about the baby at the time but she was perfectly healthy, and is now a healthy happy 30yr old Mum.

Oh wow. That indeed puts things in perspective. So happy your Aunt + cousin were ok!!