Bed Rest for Pregnant Women May Be Harmful
Posted 11/01/2010
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Judith A. Maloni, PhD, RN, FAAN |
Over the past few decades, millions of pregnant women in the United States have been put on bed rest or restricted activity to treat or prevent pregnancy complications.
However, a new research article by Professor of Nursing Judith A. Maloni indicates that bed rest can be detrimental in terms of bone loss, fatigue, boredom, loss of muscle function and muscle atrophy, sleep problems, sore muscles, weight loss by the mother, lower fetal weight, depression both during pregnancy and postpartum, nasal congestion, reflux, indigestion, and back and muscle aches. In addition, bed rest could lead to relationship conflicts with partners and family members.
As an alternative, Maloni suggests a different solution: nurses. “Nurses can challenge bed-rest treatment by functioning as advocates for women and educating them about the evidence for bed rest treatment as well as the risks and benefits," she writes in the journal Biological Research for Nursing.
