Dos

• Maintain a healthy regimen during pregnancy and take extra care while maintaining personal hygiene, as pregnant women fall under a ‘high-risk’ category in case of Swine Flu infection.
• Keep regularity in doctor visits during pregnancy to keep a tab on pregnancy and health status.
• Inform your doctor immediately in case of occurrence of Swine Flu-like symptoms.
• As far as possible, pregnant women should stay away from crowded places.
• In case of the vaccine being available, immediately get vaccinated under medical supervision. Pregnant women would possibly get priority in vaccination due to their ‘high-risk’ categorization.
• In the unfortunate event of a pregnant woman getting infected by the H1N1 virus, she should immediately begin a course of Tamiflu or other Swine Flu medications, of course under medical instructions.

Don’ts

• The first very important message for pregnant women, as for all people, is not to panic. Even if pregnant women have more chances of getting infected by the Swine Flu, it should not be a cause for undue worries as this will affect the pregnancy and well-being of both the mother and the yet to be born child.
• Pregnant women should not go to areas or places where it is known that the incidence of Swine Flu is prevalent or high.
• Do not take medication without medical advice or supervision during pregnancy.
• Do not eat outside, especially at crowded and unhygienic places.
• Do not hesitate to take Swine Flu medication even if certain known side-effects are to occur as medical experts think that untreated influenza carries a far larger risk than the side-effects of Swine Flu medication. Personal and expert medical discretion is, however, advised for pregnant women as an extra measure of care.

Acknowledgements: WebMD.com, Data & information released by WHO / US CDC, IMA – Pune chapter, MOHFW – India website