Gone are the days when, when getting pregnant, women had to totally change their routine getting as much rest as possible. Today, although many would even prefer to indulge in this, the fast pace of daily life, long hours of work and the need to move faster and faster makes many pregnant women continue with their common tasks from day to day until the last months of pregnancy, except of course in risky pregnancies.
As a way of optimizing the time between obligations, many women continue to drive during pregnancy, but in order to stay safe and protect the baby, some care must be taken.
In early pregnancy, the risk is due to frequent nausea and dizziness, which may increase the risk of accidents. In addition, the woman's reflexes during pregnancy naturally slow down, the movement of the baby in the belly may prevent the woman from keeping her attention 100% focused on traffic.
In the last months, when the belly becomes bigger, besides being uncomfortable, driving can become a very dangerous activity, because any sudden braking, slippage, small collisions and accidents can cause the belly that is very close to the wheel to be affected causing detachment of the placenta, bleeding, injury to both mother and baby and even inducing premature birth.
Prior to the implementation of the National Traffic Code in 1997, the law prohibited pregnant women over five months of age from driving, as in the current code, this prohibition was lifted and there is no restriction on driving pregnant. Most doctors also do not prohibit their pregnant patients from driving their vehicles, but the greater the care, the lower the risks. Check out a list of basic care to protect mom and baby.
Seat belt
The belt should be adjusted so that the diagonal band is across the shoulder line and is crossed over the chest and the horizontal band is well below the uterus. Although the seat belt may cause some discomfort to the driver, it will not affect the baby and even when the belly is very large, the pregnant woman should wear the seat belt both behind the wheel and in the passenger's seat.
Pedals
The need to move the seat apart to fit the belly can make access to the pedals difficult. Moving the seat as far away from the wheel as possible is a precautionary measure to protect the belly, but access to the pedals should be safe and convenient.
Bank
The more comfortable the driver feels, the better and the straighter his spine is, the less pain he will feel, especially for those who spend a lot of time in traffic.
Time
The less time the pregnant woman stays behind the wheel, the better to avoid stress, swelling of the legs, difficulty in venous return and hypoglycemia. More than two hours at the wheel can be harmful, but if you have no way, the ideal is to take breaks to stretch your legs, move your body and relax, as stress in pregnant women is more harmful than for those who are not in the gestational phase. .
velocity
With slower reflexes due to pregnancy, it is ideal for pregnant women to drive slower than usual to prevent braking, identify potholes and reduce the risk of accidents.
If you are pregnant, you already know that you do not need to drastically change your lifestyle, but talk to your doctor, explain your routine and your needs. Be sure to consider alternatives such as hitchhiking and taxiing, which in addition to safer, will give you a little more time to enjoy the belly with peace of mind.
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