What should I do if I am pregnant and have a hernia?

If you have a hernia during your pregnancy, you should consult your doctor immediately and ask her to examine the condition without any delay.

The common advice, in this case, is to avoid hernia repair during pregnancy and the best recommendation will go like this: leave it as is until after the childbirth and you have fully recovered from it. Normally, this will be no more than 3 to 6 months.

It’s to be noted that a hernia during pregnancy doesn’t affect the child in the womb or its development in any way. And so, if the hernia doesn’t seem to be causing any imminent threat to the mother’s health, your priority will be to place any avoidable risk on the mother and her pregnancy. Even when hernia surgery is appearing to be unavoidable, you should do it only during the second trimester. However, this is very rare.

Instead, pregnant mothers are advised to take care to minimize the causes that may aggravate the hernia symptoms. Good support at the area of the issue while coughing and sneezing by using the hands will be helpful. Also, avoiding any activity that can make it hurt or get larger is also essential.