You are sitting in the doctors office plumply pregnant, when all of the sudden your doctor says, "I think the best course of action at this point would be for you to begin bed rest!"

Bed rest!!!! Those two words that every pregnant woman dreads to hear. Unfortunately, it happens! One in five pregnant women are ordered to bed rest that lasts at least twenty weeks by their doctors.



I suffered through two pregnancies that both required bed rest. With my second son I was lucky and able to serve my bed rest sentence at home. I say lucky because with my first son, I did four plus long weeks of bed rest in the high risk unit of the hospital. Oh, that was miserable! Only being allowed to get up for restroom breaks and one wheelchair ride a day! There are only so many soaps a girl can watch and only so many books a girl can read. So, when in my second pregnancy I was told I’d have to be on bed rest but from home I was overjoyed!

A variety of different medical reasons can lead a pregnant woman to bed rest. This list includes, but is not limited to the following.

• High Blood pressure



• Cervical changes such as incompetent cervix and cervical effacement



• Vaginal bleeding



• Premature labor



• Multiples



• History of pregnancy loss or premature birth



• Poor fetal development



• Gestational diabetes



• Placenta complications such as placenta abruption, placenta previa and placenta accrete

Bed rest helps lower stress, reduce high blood pressure, and to help the body stabilize. Lifting, exercise, work, and other activities can worsen some conditions which makes bed rest the ideal and safe option to increase the chance of a healthy pregnancy and ultimately, a healthy baby.

While the idea of bed rest may at first sound like a relaxing break from the day to day drama that life often becomes, bed rest for an extended period of time can bring about depression and boredom.

So, what’s a girl to do on bed rest?

• Get organized. Organize your photos, address books, etc…


• Get crafty. Do something that you can still do in bed – like scrapbooking, knitting, needlepoint, etc.



• Get social. Ask close girlfriends to come over for movie night.



• Do some reading. Bed rest is the perfect excuse to read some good ole trashy novels.



• Or do some higher learning and read some educational books that you’ve wanted read and never had the time to.



• Paint your toe nails and finger nails!



• Take an online course.



• Learn a foreign language through cassettes.



• Create a journal and commit to writing one positive thing daily.



• Read blogs! Or create your own one!

If you find your self becoming withdrawn and depressed on bed rest, know that it’s normal and reach out to others. Sidelines National Support Network is a great organization that provides peer support for women on bed rest via the computer and phone. They pair you up with another woman who has survived bed rest to support you and check on you emotionally through out your pregnancy.

I’m sorry that anyone has to go through bed rest, but sometimes it truly is the best thing for our babies!

If there are other bed rest survivors out there who have tips to conquer the loneliness and boredom that so often accompanies bed rest, please share!!