Dr Vineeta Munjal : A pregnant woman is in fact two individuals, who if exposed to ‘high intensity blasting fireworks’ can sustain irreversible side effects. The fact was disclosed by Dr Vineeta Munjal, consultant gynaecologist and obstetrician, Guru Teg Bahadur Charitable Hospital, Ludhiana
Dr Vineeta Munjal, came across women exposed to blast trauma during festival seasons, mostly during the last three months of pregnancy, who were admitted with excessive movements of the unborn baby in the womb. These women had to be hospitalised with strict bed rest and given medical management. Often women came with pre-term labour pains due to exposure to high intensity sounds”.
Restlessness, irritability, hypertension and hysteria were other features noted in pregnant women exposed to noise and chemical trauma of pyrotechnics. Crackers exploded in narrow alleys and closed spaces, especially by children, were the culprits in maximum number of cases.
Dr Munjal said that children born to women with prolonged exposure to a particular low- sound level do not suffer from any adverse effects, but if pregnant women were subjected to very noisy situations after fifth month of pregnancy, when the ears of the unborn child have developed and the baby can perceive sound, newborns cannot tolerate loud noises and begin crying every time they are exposed to such sounds.
Dr Munjal elaborated, “The baby in the womb is surrounded by a protective fluid and therefore is not susceptible to direct inquiry. The inquiry, in fact, occurs to the bed of tissues where the baby is attached to the mother’s body. This is the site through which nutrients and oxygen is supplied to the baby for its proper growth. Placenta, as this area is called, has a big maze of blood vessels.”
In her analysis, Dr Munjal emphasised that sound waves passing through the mother’s body into the body of an unborn child were reflected at this mother-baby functional area, placenta, with a consequent separation and onset of early labour pains and risk of pre-term delivery.
Moreover, due to inquiry to the blood vessels at this region, there may be intermingling of the blood of the child with that of the mother and in RH negative mothers, problems like jaundice and even death of the baby in the womb can occur.
Dr Vineeta Munjal suggested that women in the second and third trimesters should avoid exposure to fireworks which produce very loud noise. If exposed to noise or blast trauma, they require immediate admission to the labour room for monitoring the status of the yet to be born baby and delivery if need be.”
Highlights
The pregnant woman, if exposed to high intensity fireworks, can sustain irreversible side-effects.
Even pre-term labour pains start due to exposure to high intensity sounds.
Restlessness, irritability, hypertension and hysteria are other features noted in pregnant women exposed to noise and chemical trauma of pyrotechnics.
Problems like jaundice and even death of the baby in the womb can occur if there is any injury to blood vessels.
Women in the second and third trimesters should avoid exposure to fireworks, which produce very loud noise.
In case of any doubt, blood analysis for detection of fetal cells in the mother’s blood is essential to have a favourable prognosis.
(Author is Gynaecologist, Obstetrician and Infertility Specilist,Senior Consultant, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Ludhiana)