Is salt water gargle safe during pregnancy?

What does the evidence say about salt water gargle during pregnancy?

1. Plain water gargling at least three times a day lowered the rate of first upper respiratory infection in a randomized trial of 387 healthy adults, with a hazard ratio of 0.60 compared with usual care. 1
2. Starting hypertonic saline gargling and nasal rinsing within 48 hours of cold symptoms shortened illness by 1.9 days and cut spread to household contacts by 35 percent in a pilot randomized trial. 2
3. Most sore throats come from viruses like the ones behind colds and flu, and apart from strep they resolve on their own within about a week. 3
4. Only around 1 in 10 adults with a sore throat has strep, and a cough, runny nose, and hoarseness are the signals that point away from it toward a virus. 4
5. Cold symptoms, sore throat included, usually peak within two to three days of infection, which is the window where a gargle habit is worth the effort. 5

Is salt water gargle safe in each trimester?

• First trimester. Nothing is swallowed and nothing is absorbed, so gargling carries no first-trimester caveat. It is genuinely useful here, because this is the stretch where most throat products are on hold pending a conversation with your provider. Warm rather than hot water, since hot water irritates an already raw throat.
• Second trimester. Postnasal drip from pregnancy congestion is a common reason for a throat that hurts worse in the morning, and a gargle on waking often takes the edge off. Trials of gargling used it about three times a day. If your gag reflex is still touchy from earlier nausea, tip your head back less far.
• Third trimester. Reflux joins postnasal drip as a throat irritant in the third trimester, and gargling helps the surface irritation but not the cause. If your throat burns at night, raising the head of the bed is the piece that matters more. Sudden severe throat pain with fever or trouble swallowing is a same-day call.