A young woman had an epileptic fit after drinking a lot of water during childbirth. Explanations.
- An epileptic seizure sometimes begins with a cry, then the loss of consciousness is immediate and total.
- During the crisis, the eyeballs are rolled back, the head is thrown back, the constriction of the jaws can cause the biting of the tongue, and the patient is seized with convulsions.
As strange as it may seem, a young woman had an epileptic fit after drinking too much water!
“A 33-year-old patient pregnant with her first child had a tonic-clonic seizure one hour after giving birth due to acute hyponatremia* caused by excessive fluid intake,” describe doctors in the BMJ case report.
No sequelae despite the panic
Before being seized with convulsions, the young woman had been admitted to the delivery room where she spent 19 hours, including 4 hours in the last stage of labor. The young woman did not present any particular risk factor.
Throughout the delivery, she was encouraged to drink according to her thirst, without any doctor monitoring the fluid intake. Despite the panic and confusion caused by her post-birth epileptic seizure, treatment was administered to the young mother in good time to prevent her from having any sequelae.
“Raise awareness”
However, “we want to raise awareness of the possibility, although rare, of water intoxication due to overconsumption of fluids in mothers in labor,” warn scientists. They also encourage “the production of an information guide for monitoring fluid intake in women in labour”.
Finally, it should be noted that the water is, except in this very specific case, absolutely not toxic. It is even the best liquid that can be provided to the body (it is recommended to drink 1.5 liters of water per day).
*Hyponatremia is a decrease in plasma sodium concentration caused by an excess of water relative to sodium. Common causes include the use of diuretics, diarrhea, or heart failure.
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