How To Handle Your Daily Commute While Pregnant

Commuting to work and working at the desk and chair with a bump or pregnancy could be a real ordeal with hormone fluctuations, swollen feet, morning sickness and odd mood fluctuations.

Here are a few ways to tackle daily commute while pregnant:

Sit down if you can: 

It reduces the risk posed to you and the baby, causes relaxation of the joints around the pelvis that aids childbirth and reduces the additional strain put on the joints by weight gain during pregnancy. It also reduces the risk of falling caused by change in the center of gravity of the body that affects balance. It also reduces joint pains.

You could feel dizzy and faint by standing due to the blood pooling in your lower extremities; sitting could also help avoid water retention and swollen ankles. You could also avoid barging and elbow digging in that could make you uncomfortable and injure the baby. Motion triggers morning sickness; sitting helps you cope with it better.

Maintain a proper posture while sitting: 

If possible choose a seat nearest to the door to avoid the necessity to clamber over bags and feet and risk falling.

Sit with your shoulders back and neck long both in the commute and at work; avoid lower back pain as the pregnancy progresses with avoiding increasing the pressure in the curve on the small of the back. Support it with keeping a spare jumper behind.

Keep your head straight and stretch it towards the ceiling. Ensure your earlobes are in line with the middle of the shoulder, keep shoulder blades back and chest forward. Pull your stomach in and up and keep the buttocks tucked in.

If you have a journey of more than 30 minutes, prevent blood pooling to the bottom of your legs by wriggling your toes and pumping your ankles up and down frequently.

Maintain a posture where the knees are in line with your hips and the weight is balanced evenly on both hips; avoid unnecessary strain on pelvic and low back joints by not crossing or widening your legs.

Point your feet in the same direction, balancing the weight on the 2 feet; avoid standing for too long in one position.

It is best to support the arches of your feet with low heeled shoes that prevent stress on your back.

Reduce symptoms of morning sickness: 

Avoid symptoms of morning sickness and more severe hyper emesis gravid arum by keeping yourself well hydrated and nourished. Keep cool and well hydrated by keeping a cold water bottle or diluted juice to sip on during the journey. It would also help to keep some snacks like plain biscuits, cereal bars and nuts to nibble on during the journey to avoid nausea caused by long hours of not eating.

Suck or sip ginger sweets or ginger flavored drinks to avoid nausea; also avoid hot, spicy and fatty foods and opt for cold and plain food. Avoid consuming foods and fluids at the same time to overcome nausea.

It would also help to stay out of the kitchen during cooking to reduce exposure to aroma; take the help of someone else to prepare meals.

Precautions at work:

It is equally important that you get a desk and chair that helps you to keep a posture that helps avoid low back pain and pelvic girdle pain. Make sure that the back of your chair is well supported with a cushion.  While sitting your back should be a bit arched with your breasts pointing straight ahead; ensure that your shoulders are back with neck long and wrist in neutral position.

Ensure that the weight is distributed evenly through the buttocks, hips and knees. Ensure that the pelvis is tilted every 20 minutes and is moved back and forth to reduce the stiffness in that area.

Your pelvic muscles should be strengthened by Kegel exercises and other pelvic floor exercises to reduce pregnancy related incontinence problems. Practice these exercises many times a day and increase the duration of each squeeze to overcome the problem.

Have you handled your commute during pregnancy?

Image Courtesy: Google