Pregnancy - Third Trimester Bedrest

You are pregnant and in the third trimester. You are excited! You are planning for the birth of your new little baby, decorating the nursery, planning your maternity leave at work, making arrangements for your other children, attending baby showers and then … your doctor tells gives you the news. You must stay in bed until your baby is born.

Many women find themselves faced with the need for bedrest. It may be that you are late in the pregnancy and over exerting yourself to get finished with your ‘to-do’ list before the baby is born.  Or perhaps you are experiencing preeclampsia or pregnancy induced hypertension (high blood pressure).  Or you could be in preterm labor carrying multiple babies.

For whatever reason, the doctor believes that bedrest is in the best interest of both the mother and the baby. So don’t kid yourself.  Bedrest is just what it says – rest in bed (or the couch).

This isn’t a reprieve from work so you can paint the nursery or shop or even clean the house in preparation for delivery.  This means rest in bed so that your baby has the greatest chance to be born only after he is ready to face the world.

Complications that arise from a baby born prematurely can be respiratory, neurological or even physical.  Babies whose lungs aren’t able to take on the task of respiration will be on ventilators, which can potentially damage the lungs permanently.  Other complications include neurological damage that can result in children who have learning disabilities, mental retardation or physical disabilities. These complications are serious, and if resting in bed will delay the delivery until the baby is ready to be born, it is worth any inconvenience.

Bed rest during pregnancy doesn’t have to be horrible.  In fact, with today’s technological advances you can get quite a bit accomplished while resting your body in bed.  Your first task would be to clear you activity level with your doctor.  If you have a two story home you may be limited to climbing stairs only once daily or not even at all.  You may or may not be able to get up and make a lunch for yourself.

Once you are clear about the activity restrictions, potential medications and monitoring systems you must now turn your attention to your children.  If they are old enough to care for themselves with just supervision this may give you time to do puzzles, games and watch some fun movies with them.  Sitting down to do homework with the kids won’t be so much of an imposition on your time when you have all the time in the world.
Tomorrow I’ll continue this discussion with suggestions for taking care of younger children, getting hired help if needed, and more.