The CORONAVIRUS and PREGNANCY

The world has gone into a panic over the Caronavirus- there is NO toilet paper on supermarket shelves, people are panic buying their staples and don’t even mention HAND SANTISER...

So should pregnant woman be worried?

Pregnant women tend to have more serious flu infections than people the same age who aren't pregnant, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s because pregnancy changes the immune system somewhat and lung capacity decreases as a woman’s pregnancy progresses. Though this doesn’t mean that pregnant women will experience coronavirus more severely. There are just not enough studies on pregnant women and coronavirus for experts to say.

“There were some reports of women who are pregnant that have been published, but they're very small numbers,” Adalja said.

Basically what this means is that pregnant women are as at risk for coronavirus as any one else whose immune system is currently compromised and should take precautions as such.

While this might sound worrisome, the experts recommend that pregnant women follow the same smart behaviors that everyone should practice.

“This is a virus that doesn’t have a vaccine or any kind of treatment so the best protection is really just common sense hygiene that you would use during flu season anyway,” Adalja said.

Wash your hands, avoid sick people

This means frequent and proper hand washing. Pregnant women (and all people) should use soap and warm water and rub their hands — including their palms, wrists and between fingers — together vigorously for 20 seconds or about the length of “Happy Birthday.”

“Wash your hands, avoid sick individuals, if you are sick cover your cough,” Adalja said.

While influenza is a different virus than coronavirus, pregnant women should get a flu shot if they have not already received one. It will protect them from getting the flu, which can be more serious in pregnant women. And, fewer flu infections means that doctors can focus their resources and energy on helping patients with coronavirus.

“The more people that are vaccinated against influenza, the less of a burden we're going to have in our hospitals,” Adalja said. “We need to have room to take care of patients that may have the novel coronavirus.”

Do you need a mask if you're pregnant? Nope

Pregnant women do not need to buy masks to protect themselves. Only N95 respirators are effective and a mask prevents you from spreading coronavirus.

"If you put a mask on if you’re sick, that prevents you from spreading the germs to other people,” Dan McGee a pediatric specialist at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan, told TODAY Parents. “But to go out in public wearing a mask, especially the flimsy lightweight surgical mask you see people wearing, it's not going to prevent the virus from coming in contact with you.”

There is still little known about the virus and how it effects each age and individual. 

So the news is a mask isn’t going to protect you- increasing your personal hygiene standards will! 

Info from TODAY and Pop sugar news site