How Long A Mother Have To Take A Bed Rest During Pregnancy?

Some pregnant mothers may have been recommended to take a rest or bed rest by a doctor. Sometimes, a bed rest is needed in certain conditions to maintain the health of the mother and fetus. But unfortunately, nowadays many pregnant women are recommended for bed rest even though it is not really necessary for them or not according to medical indications. To make it clear, take a look about the various bed rest terms and benefits during pregnancy that are important for you to know.

When should you take a bed rest while pregnant?

Bed rest during pregnancy

Don’t be sad when doctors ask you to bed rest while pregnant. The doctor makes this decision of course to make sure your health and your baby during the pregnancy.

Basically, the bed rest during pregnancy should be done according to medical indications. But usually, this medical indication is actually not related to the pregnancy. For example, pregnant women with a history of heart disease are recommended for bed rest. This means, the bed rest is certainly not because of the womb problem, but the problem is precisely in the mother's heart.

But indeed, there are certain conditions that make pregnant women are recommended for bed rest, those are:

1. Premature contractions

Mothers who often experience premature contractions are recommended to take bed rest during pregnancy. But before that, the cause of premature contraction itself still have to be handled first. Because, take a rest is not enough to eliminate or deal with these premature contractions.

For example, a mother experience premature contraction due to certain infections. Well, this infection must be addressed first in order to stop the contraction continuously. After that, the mother is encouraged to rest completely until her body is completely recovered.

2. High blood pressure

Blood pressure in pregnant women can increase due to various conditions, one of which is preeclampsia. This condition of high blood pressure can be one of the reasons for pregnant women to take bed rest.

However, this condition certainly must be controlled first before pregnant women are asked to take a bed rest. Recommending bed rest without controlling blood pressure, certainly will not make the health of pregnant women back to normal.

3. Bleeding in the first term of pregnancy

Mothers who experience bleeding in the first term are recommended to take a rest/bed rest. But again, bed rest will not be enough to restore mothers’ health if the bleeding is not treated first.

First, we must know the cause of the bleeding. If the cause is not from the condition of the pregnancy, for example, due to polyps or warts in the cervix, then bed rest certainly will not be able to eliminate the polyp. Instead of making mothers healthier, untreated polyps can endanger the health of the mother.

Furthermore, the polyp must be removed first so that the bleeding stops quickly. Only then pregnant women can take bed rest to restore their health.

4. Twin pregnancy

Actually, not all twin pregnancy is recommended for bed rest. However, there are some cases which show that multiple pregnancies have greater complications than single pregnancies, one of which is a premature birth.

If the premature pregnancy arises suddenly, the doctor will usually give medicines that are inserted into the infusion fluid to eliminate contractions. During this infusion, pregnant women are recommended to take bed rest in the hospital until they are fully recovered.

What are the benefits of bed rest during pregnancy?

Bed rest during pregnancy is certainly done with some causes. Regardless of the cause, the main purpose of the total bed rest is to limit the mother's activities. This is useful for restoring the health condition of the mother so the babies also stay healthy.

For those of you who have high blood pressure, bed rest during pregnancy can also help normalize blood pressure. By the time, your blood pressure will gradually drop and return to normal.

Likewise, for those of you who have twins pregnant and at risk, a bed rest during pregnancy can help rest the body and reduce excessive contractions. Even so, make sure the bed rest is only done as needed. This is because the bed rest is actually not proven to provide many benefits to pregnancy. Pregnant women are actually required to keep active and productive during pregnancy.

But indeed, bed rest may be needed for certain medical indications, whether related to pregnancy or not. Most importantly, just do the bed rest as needed because if it takes too long it can endanger the mother and baby.

Bed rest rules when pregnant

Exercise when bed rest

Even though it is needed, there are a number of rules that must be considered if pregnant women are having bed rest.

What you can do…

Actually, you can do anything on your bed rest time. Starting from watching TV, playing games, and doing assignments from the office. In addition, you can do like bathing, urinating, or eating while sitting, all this can be done. But with a note, you must go back to bed to rest.

Because according to WHO standards, a pregnant woman actually still has to be active even though in the bed rest time. Pregnant women are even encouraged to move actively during their pregnancy, just like before pregnancy. Whether it's taking care of the household, going to work, and so on. So, do not treat pregnant women like sick people.

Pregnant women who need a lot of rest must continue to eat balanced nutritious food. Because the movement of your intestines will tend to slow down due to bed rest so that for a long time rest can trigger constipation during pregnancy.

As a solution, multiple eating fibrous foods such as vegetables and fruit, and drinking lots of water can make you defecate smoothly. However, this is adjusted again with medical conditions that are the cause of the bed rest itself. For example, you are recommended to take bed rest because you experience premature contractions. In this condition, you really don't have certain dietary restrictions.

Other things if you have a heart problem, then you have to limit high-fat foods and cholesterol. Because the two foods can inhibit heart function and aggravate the disease. Again, this is adjusted again with medical indications in each pregnant woman.

What you can’t do

For those of you who are accustomed to sports but have to bed rest while pregnant, then you should postpone these healthy habits. Remember, bed rest requires you to rest your body from various activities that are too heavy.

So, this does not mean you can be free to exercise without paying attention to your health. Yes, how about a massage during pregnancy? In my opinion, pregnant women may just do massage while in bed rest. However, pay attention to which body parts that will be massaged. If you want to massage while in bed rest, choose only the legs and arms that are prone to getting sore during pregnancy. Avoid massaging the area around the waist and abdomen to protect your womb.

Pay attention to the side effects of bed rest during pregnancy

Actually, there is no specific time how long pregnant women should take a bed rest. I think the faster will be better. Once your health has improved and returned to normal, then you may return to normal activity as usual. It should be noted that pregnant women should not stay too long, whether it's sitting or lying down for a long time. Bed rest that has too long a side effect that can be very dangerous for pregnant women, including:

1    Thromboembolism

Thromboembolism is a condition of blood clots in large blood vessels, usually appearing in the thigh or calf area. If this blood clotting is formed, the mother will feel tremendous pain in the area of the foot. If it is left too long, this blood clot can be released and clog other blood vessels. As a result, thromboembolism can cause severe pain in the lower limbs which leads to death.

2       Overweight

Too long taking the bed rest during pregnancy can make your weight rise dramatically. Pregnant women who have to rest in bed will certainly lack movement, while food intake tends to be more. So, do not be surprised if your body weight will quickly rise if you take bed rest.

3       Impaired fetal health

Too much lying down, especially with the supine position, also not good for fetal health. Because the blood flow from mother to fetus is hampered and triggers a disruption in the health of the fetus. That is why, pregnant women are recommended to sleep on their side, either tilted to the left or right, so that blood flow to the fetus is smoother.

4       Infants difficult to enter the pelvis

Lying in bed too long when the bed rest can also cause the baby difficult to enter the pelvis. This can later slow down and complicate labor. That is also the reason why pregnant women are encouraged to diligently walk in order to accelerate the baby's head down to the pelvis. That way, the process of opening and giving birth becomes faster.

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