Pregnant women experience sore throats or care for family members who have one. It is important to know what she can do to help herself and her family.

Personal Story

I wasn’t pregnant. My daughter was. She had a sore throat and she wanted to get better quickly.

What We Know

Viral Sore Throats

Most sore throats, as many as 90%, are viral. Cold symptoms often go with the viral sore throat. These include symptoms:

• coughing
• fatigue
• fever
• hoarseness
• runny nose
• sneezing
• swollen tonsils
• swollen mucus membranes
• swollen lymph nodes in back.

Most sore throats resolve within one to five days.

Strep Throat

Strep throat is a different story. One of several streptococcal (strep) bacteria it. Some of the illnesses caused by these bacteria are more serious than others. Cold symptoms do not always go with strep.

Some symptoms of strep are:

• sudden onset
• severe sore throat
• fever over 101 degrees
• painful swallowing
• bright red throat with white or yellow spots on the back
• swollen lymph nodes and tonsils

Other symptoms can include:

• headache
• stomach pain
• vomiting
• skin rash
• body aches
• not feeling hungry

To confirm strep, a health care professional may do a rapid strep test, which takes ten minutes, but is not always reliable. Or she could take a throat culture, which takes one or two days, but finds more cases of strep. Bacterial strep throat often needs a series of antibiotics to fight the infection.

Strep is very contagious, so someone with the illness should avoid going out for 24 hours after starting antibiotics.

Home Support for Sore Throat

It is a good idea to “rule out” strep throat by having a throat culture taken. Many of the symptoms are similar for viral sore throat and strep throat.

Goals

For a viral sore throat, home support therapy has the goals of easing symptoms, lowering the risk of complications, and shortening the length of illness.

Dietary Recommendations

• Increase fluid consumption to 1 cup per hour. Consume pure water and herbal teas such as chamomile, echinacea, marshmallow, or slippery elm. Ginger tea , made with fresh root,  is also beneficial, but limit to 2 grams per day during pregnancy.
• Eliminate all forms of simple sugars, including dried fruit, fruit juice, honey, and sugar.
• Consume mainly vegetables and fruit.

Nutritional and Herbal Supplement Recommendations

• During pregnancy, limit vitamin C to 2,000 mg in small, divided doses throughout the day.
• Consume echinacea tincture internally or use as an antiseptic spray for sore throat.

Physical Recommendations

• Gargle twice daily with a solution made from 1 tablespoon sea salt and 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar mixed in one cup of warm water.
• When a sore throat starts, replace your toothbrush. When illness has resolved, replace toothbrush. Wash toothbrush in the dishwasher every 2 to 4 weeks to prevent re-infection.
• Increase humidity with an ultrasonic humidifier.
• To prevent spreading sore throats, wash hands frequently. Cover mouth when coughing or sneezing.

Pregnant women want to care for herself or others when a sore throat invades her household.

May God bless your healthful endeavors!

Joni