# 3511
In what may be the sternest advice given to date, expectant mothers, and parents with babies in the UK will soon be advised to make `lifestyle changes’ in order to avoid infection with the H1N1 Swine flu virus.
In many ways this advice is similar to the warning issued by the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada a couple of weeks ago, urging pregnant women to avoid crowds where they might be exposed to the flu virus.
We continue to see a heavy toll among pregnant women and their babies from this virus, although other groups have been hard hit as well, including asthmatics and those with diabetes, chronic cardiovascular disease, and pulmonary disease.
Whether the public will embrace these lifestyle changes, and are able to sustain them for the duration of a pandemic, are open questions right now.
As of this posting, this new guidance doesn’t appear to be online yet.
This from the Times Online.
July 19, 2009
Swine flu: mothers told to stay home
Steven Swinford and Tom Pattinson in Beijing
PREGNANT women and parents with babies will be advised to avoid crowds and unnecessary journeys on public transport in an attempt to limit the effects of the swine flu virus on the most vulnerable.
The Department of Health will publish new guidelines on the National Health Service website today that emphasise the risk to pregnant women and young children.
The Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists are recommending changes in lifestyle, including staying indoors when practical. Expectant mothers should also limit the movements of their other children so they do not bring the virus home.
Pregnant women are advised to avoid crowds where possible: “If they normally travel on the Tube or on crowded trains in rush hour they might want to leave later or earlier,” Sue Macdonald from the Royal College of Midwives said. “This is about being sensible and being aware of the risks.”
The government will not advise women to delay pregnancy until the swine flu pandemic has passed, as is recommended by the National Childbirth Trust. The latter was accused of scaremongering by the Royal College of General Practitioners.
