Safety During Pregnancy and the Benefits of Personal Monitoring

Considering the dire consequences of a potential mishap during pregnancy – not to mention the hormonal changes that can wreak havoc on anyone’s composure – the increased stress-levels are quite understandable. The only way to mitigate the worry and the risks is to take appropriate safety measures, granting the future mothers and their whole family some much needed peace of mind.

Safety hazards

While being careful is important when pregnant, going overboard can also become an issue. Tempting as it might be for women to walk on eggshells for nine months, barely leaving the safety of their homes, becoming overly paranoid is neither healthy and nor is it effective.

Of course, there are cases in which there is a high risk of miscarriage, and many doctors advise bedrest as a way to reduce the threat. Women sometimes become homebound during their pregnancy from very early on and have no other choice but to spend their days cooped up and alone. With the benefits of bedrest aside, there are few things more dangerous for a pregnant woman than being alone, especially in the last months of their term.

However, short of moving in with a retired family member or getting hospitalized, there is little that can be done to avoid this altogether and as such it is the primary hazard that most pregnant women face at one point or another, regardless of their health. Add in factors such as a large house with no neighbors around, a staircase, or perhaps even a power outage at the wrong time and the situation could be a disaster in the making.

What can be done?

First of all, try to get someone to keep you company whenever possible. Not only will you be less bored and have spare time to fill with worrying non-stop, but you will also have help readily available should anything go wrong. Ask family to give you regular calls during the day, too.

Exercise is beneficial during pregnancy, but if your doctor advised against physical exertion or if you are in your final trimester, then be sure to avoid stairs. If you live in a house with multiple floors, it would be wise to move downstairs until the baby is born. Most importantly, always have a way to call for help. Regardless of whether you are active and spend your days walking around the nearby park or are homebound for your final weeks, emergencies can happen at any time.

A cellphone is a must, of course, and a safety whistle could come in handy, especially if you get into trouble on the street. Neither of these are exactly foolproof, however; what if you fall and can’t move? What if there is no time to fiddle around with your mobile, and then painstakingly explain yourself when calling for an ambulance?

The most secure safety net is a personal emergency response system. If you are homebound, a base station and wearable button combination will do the trick. With these just the push of a button will get immediate help. The base stations usually have a long backup battery-life, so there is no need to worry about power outages. An alert pendant with fall detection is even better, though, since if you fall the paramedics will be immediately dispatched. There are also mobile alert systems with GPS built-in, which are useful to carry around if you leave the house often. They come in many forms, with some providers even offering a smartwatch to avoid cluing people into the device’s functionality.