5 things you can’t do while pregnant is to establish awareness on things that you are not suppose to do during your pregnancy period. Even though if you are planning to get pregnant, this article is worth reading as you will not notice when you get pregnant until you have tested positive in your pregnancy test or confirmed by your Gynaecologist.
Getting pregnant is the most amazing moment you have and you must be extra cautious about what you intend to do to ensure healthy and successful pregnancy. In this article, we will share about 5 things you can’t do while pregnant and the reasons behind them.
Sometimes, if some of you are having complication during your pregnancy, doctor will advise resting at home for few days (sometimes bed rest for the whole pregnancy period depends on how serious is the issue). Beware of certain tasks are simply not worth taking the risk to get done because it can lead to miscarriage and premature delivery.
5 things you can’t do while pregnant
NO.1. Lift heavy loads
As soon as you are pregnant, your husband or mother/mother-in-law will remind you not to lift heavy loads. There is a reason behind that if you lift too much weight during your pregnancy, it may increase the chances of miscarriage, preterm birth or injury during pregnancy (according to CDC – reproductive health and the workplace).
Pregnant women are at the high risk group due to their changing body size. They cannot hold the load close to their body and the center of gravity moving forward can cause back strain and aching all the time.
Even if you are in your early pregnancy, which you do not encounter yet any change of body size, you are advised not to lift weight / heavy loads such as full laundry basket to avoid the risk of miscarriage. Changes in hormone during pregnancy will have an effect on the ligament and joint in the spine, which make them more prone to injury while lifting heavy loads.
If you need to lift any loads, please seek help from your family members. Insist on lifting weight will cause unwanted incident which you do not wish it to happen.
NO.2 Bending over at the waist
Some women need to bend over due to the physical demand at workplace as well as doing cleaning work at home. Repetitive bending over can lead to sciatica. At this bending at the waist position in prolong period, a painful swelling of the sciatic nerve that runs down the back to the legs may cause back pain and numbness.
You may experience it more when your tummy is growing bigger due to the weight gain and pressure on the uterus during the pregnancy. If you have to bend over to get the job done, seek help. Stop doing it until you have given birth.
NO.3 Standing too long or cleaning high up shelf
Sometimes, we are not aware that we are standing for too long as we have lots of things to be done at one time. We tend to neglect our body signal that we are not been able to cope with it especially during pregnancy.
Standing for too long may lead to problem with blood flow, increase the risk of high blood pressure and even can lead to preterm birth.
Cleaning things on the top of the shelves or you need to get something high up on the shelves, please seek help. With the growing belly, the center of gravity changes during pregnancy which make you more prone to falls.
NO.4 Exposure to chemicals / household chemicals
Chemicals exposure is the least you must do to ensure healthy and successful pregnancy. Some chemicals can cause miscarriage, deformities to the fetus and slow down the growth of the baby.
During the first trimester of pregnancy, the formation of limb and organ of the fetus can be critical. Therefore, prolong exposure of certain chemicals may cause birth defects to the child. If you want to know which type of chemicals in your workplace that can harm you and your baby, read from their material safety data sheet (MSDS).
If you cannot avoid the handling of the chemicals at the workplace, you may do these steps to protect you from the exposure and reduce the risk to the maximum level.
- Replace hazardous chemicals to safer ones
- Ensure the handling of chemicals are in ventilation hood or handling of chemicals in well ventilated area.
- Use of personal protective equipment such as chemical resistant gloves, mask and protective clothing.
- Follow safety procedure for handling chemicals at the workplace.
- temporary ask for transfer to different work place (if possible)
Sometimes, household chemicals such as pesticide spray, may contain harmful solvents which may cause deformities of the fetus. If you are not sure about whether these chemical products can harm you and your child, look for safer and chemical free options in the market.
Pregnant women are advised not to be exposed for chemicals in cigarette smoke and alcohol as well.
NO.5 Cleaning the litter box
It is not advisable to have pet at home while you are pregnant. Cat feces especially contain harmful parasites which can harm the unborn baby, causing vision loss and brain damage. Therefore, cleaning up the cat’s litter box is not a good idea while pregnant.
Sometimes, digging the soil or gardening may get you in contact with cat’s feces too. Be wary of that when you do gardening and wear protective gloves to avoid getting contact with feces.
So, what must you do?
To ensure you have a safe and healthy pregnancy, you shall always do this:
- Ask for help from your husband or your other family members to do certain task mentioned above.
- If you experience tiredness and pain, stop doing whatever you are doing and rest.
- Remember not to go overboard, try to complete tasks one at a time. Not multiple tasking.
- Can do simple exercise like yoga.
- Eat balanced food, control your weight, sugar and salt intake to reduce risk of diabetes and high blood pressure
- Living in a healthy lifestyle
Conclusion
Being active during pregnancy is essential to prevent pregnancy complications during the delivery. For some activities stated above, can be risky or strenuous to pregnant women. Therefore, avoid doing the 5 things you can’t do while pregnant as mentioned earlier is a wise decision to ensure the safety of the mother and the baby.
I have written an article about “How to increase milk supply for breastfeeding” previously. If you are interested, please click on the link to get to the access of this article.
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Happy reading!