If you've felt guilty during your pregnancy for wanting to relax and put your feet up, you really have no reason to, especially since a new study has found that pregnant women who stand up for long hours at work wind up having smaller babies due to their growth being slowed down.
And in addition to that, the research also concluded that pregnant women who work more than 25 hours a week have babies who weigh 5 to 7 ounces less at birth than babies born to moms who worked under 25 hours per week.
Researchers noted that the differences in growth happen during the third trimester, so it sounds like overdoing things during that time could potentially have an effect on your baby's growth. Do you hear that ladies? Now there's a valid excuse for sitting down and taking it easy on the job (not to mention having people fuss over you and give you a little extra pampering).
I can't help but think there must be some truth to this study based on my own son's birth weight, which was 8 pounds 1 ounce. During my last trimester, I wound up leaving my job, and I did a whole lot of sitting on the couch with my feet propped up reading magazines and watching movies. And while I did feel a little bit of guilt for ceasing to contribute to the family income, I was relieved to be able to relax and enjoy the last couple months of my pregnancy. There's really no way to tell whether my taking it easy had an effect on my son's birth weight, but if nothing else, I was less tired and stressed during my final weeks.
If you do plan on working right up until delivery, you shouldn't let this new research alarm you or make you worry about doing your job. But if you have a job that requires you to stand for long periods at a time, it may be wise to talk to your supervisor about taking extra breaks, or possibly bringing in a chair to give you some extra relief when you need it.
Are you working right up until your due date, and does this new study give you more incentive to sit down & take regular breaks?
Image via Daquella manera/Flickr
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Comments 16
I worked on my feet my whole pregnancy, as well as scrubbing the whole store (Starbucks) from top to bottom, right up to a week before delivering and my son was nearly 10 pounds! Being active is a plus towards your delivery, it makes you stronger.
The study wasn't very specific, but I'm willing to place bets that its women who are stressed and unhappy durring their last trimester that have underweight babies.
If you love your job, are a happy person, eat well, and exercise, far more statistics show that your baby will be fine.
working andwalking promote healthy children! i worked till i was put on bed rest i was thin and looked great and my dd was perfectly healthy i quit work and got huge in a month. but i was able to push her out in 45 mins at a healthy weight of 7lbs 8oz work is good for the bady and the mind
Sweet. So if I hadn't worked 50 hours a week right up until my delivery my 8lb baby could have been huge!
Unfortunately not all women can stay off their feet while pregnant, it's just not an economic reality.
You could flip it around and say women who did less in the third trimester had bigger babies. The study even said that the smaller babies weren't considered as being of "low birth weight' they were just smaller than the babies of the non-workers/non-standers. Could it be that the women who did less during the last trimester also gained more weght themselves? Weight gain during pregnancy can lead to a bigger baby.
I'm on modified bedrest at 32 weeks. I also have gestational diabetes. I found that walking after meals really helped keep my blood sugar in check, so I'm a bit worried that the bed rest will mess that up and cause my baby to be larger.
My oldest, I was on short hours then laid off at 32 weeks. He was 8lbs 10oz. My second, was sick with Gallstones, so worked a reduced schedule. He was 7lbs 11oz. My daughter, worked up until she was born, 40+ hours a week. She was 7lbs 6oz.. So I totally believe this. Same thing happend to my mom, she got more rest with each of her first 3 pregnancies, so each was bigger. Worked until she went into labor with me, I was 6lbs 7oz. My little brother, she worked TWO jobs, he was 4lbs even at FULL TERM.
I'm going to work right up until delivery...I sit down at a desk all day, so I'm not really worried about the whole "working over 25 hours" thing