Can swallowing amniotic fluid during birth cause pneumonia?

Answer 1

First a direct answer...swallowing amniotic fluid does not cause pneumonia. Before birth the fetus regularly swallows the amniotic fluid. It also pees into the amniotic fluid. It becomes a problem at birth if the baby's first bowel movement is into the amniotic fluid....this usually only happens when the baby is stressed. The first bowel movement is called meconium. If inhaled with the first breath, the meconium can cause a severe reaction in the lungs making it difficult to pass oxygen from the lungs across the thin air sacks (alveoli) into the blood stream. This is not pneumonia, but can result in suffocation from lack of oxygen getting to the body. If the amniotic fluid is stained with meconium prior to birth, the throat, mouth, lungs are suctioned aggressively once the head is delivered....prior to the rest of the body being delivered and the first breath. If any meconium gets into the lungs, treatment will vary from supplemental oxygen, to a breathing machine, and for most severe lung injury, the baby is put on ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation....blood is circulated outside the body to a machine that provides oxygen exchange with blood until the lungs heal). ECMO is usually only available at large city/regional children's hospitals, whitch will result in family having to travel long distance or relocate for care. For the mother, there is also a very very rare complication called amniotic fluid embolus. This is when amniotic fluid gets into the blood stream of the mother, travels to the heart & lungs and blocks more blood from getting to the lungs. The debris in the amniotic fluid can also cause a severe allergic reaction. The combination can result in a sudden failure of the lungs and heart which can result in sudden death. Thankful this very rare.