Echinacea in pregnancy

The moment of gestation is a very particular moment for the woman’s body in which everything changes to create the best conditions and thus allow the proper development of the child within the mother’s uterus.

In these 9 months the future mother begins to take care of herself and the baby she brings in her womb, keeping more and more attentive to her habits and her behaviors that influence the development of the foetus and the health of both.

The first trimester of pregnancy is the most sensitive and potentially the most at risk, also because at times the future mother realizes her pregnancy when several weeks have passed since conception.

During this time she will have continued her life in the usual daily routine and several substances may have come into contact with her and the child and may be dangerous and unfit for children, such as certain medicines, alcohol, smoking, pollutants and some substances from the plant world.

In fact, some natural remedies based on plants are not suitable during the gestation period and the future mother will have to ask an expert what natural remedies to use if they are ill during pregnancy.

Let’s see here how to use echinacea in pregnancy and possible contraindications.

Echinacea in pregnancy

Echinacea is a plant that can be safely taken during pregnancy, even if it is recommended to take it anyway once the first trimester of gestation has ended. This precaution is almost for scruple more than for a real problem of the onset of some danger in the use of echinacea.

In fact, the latest prospective study of echinacea exposure on a sample of North American women found that there were no changes in the development of the fetuses of mothers who had taken echinacea in the first trimester of pregnancy compared to the control group who had not taken echinacea.

The use of echinacea is so wide and widespread in the population that even during pregnancy it is one of the most widely used herbs.

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When to use echinacea in pregnancy

Echinacea is indicated in the case of cold, cough, flu and seasonal illnesses; it is an excellent ally of the future mother because it has a wide range of benefits on the body without interfering with the development of the child.

For all cold season diseases or those caused by temperature changes, echinacea helps to strengthen the immune system by supporting it against these problems.

Its specific mechanism of action is not yet known but its effect is to increase in a global way the whole immune response: there is in fact an improvement in the activity of monocytes and phagocytes, that is to say of those elements of the immune system that eliminate bacteria and viruses; there is also a greater activity of lymphocytes, white blood cells specific to the immune system.

Echinacea is therefore used as an immunostimulant thanks to these properties and can be used as a prevention of all respiratory diseases and seasonal disorders.

In addition, in cooling cases, echinacea is used for its anti-inflammatory and anti-infectious properties, creating a suitable environment for healing.

If there is also the presence of mucus in the airways we will have a fluidizing and expectorant effect with the use of echinacea. The area routes are then disinfected, protected and cleaned from the action of echinacea, thus resolving diseases linked to the upper airway and bronchial tract.

Echinacea can also be used as an external remedy in cream or ointment to help heal wounds, abrasions, burns, dermatitis or small skin rashes. Its action in this case is to prevent the wound from becoming infected and help regenerate the epithelial tissue thanks to its healing properties.