Ensuring a Healthy and Safe Pregnancy at Work

A healthy woman undergoing a healthy pregnancy  can often work until the day she goes into labor, which is something most enterprising woman today do and proudly so. Having said that, let’s face the facts; pregnancy is a difficult time for women, more so when the women in question need to be at their workplaces; which aren’t exactly renowned for their hospitality.

However, this does not discount from the necessity to remain safe and healthy, since a pregnant woman is not staking her health alone, but also the baby’s. Thus, safety, health and comfort need to be well taken care of by pregnant women when they decide to embark on their daily tryst with employment.

Safety at work cannot be delineated from health, since a healthy pregnant woman is at a far lesser risk of hurting herself, and/or her baby, than one who neglects her health.

So what are the ground rules to good health?

• Eating balanced meals from time to time, as has been directed by your doctor, which should include an ample amount of nutrients, vitamins and minerals, is definitely the way forward as far as healthy eating is concerned. Eating well also includes drinking plenty of fluids, like water and juices, throughout the day and snacking from time to time to avoid hunger pangs and the nausea it may bring about.

• Good rest, i.e. about 8-10 hours of sleep at nights, which should be gotten by going to bed early, is another crucial factor in juggling work and pregnancy successfully. Proper exercise, like stretching and taking five minute breaks to move around, is another essential, since it ensures that you don’t suffer from irritants like swollen and aching joints and maintains good blood flow in the body.

• Maintaining good health also involves handling the emotional roller coaster that pregnancy brings about; which can be done by avoiding stress. This may seem difficult to do in many working environments, but experts claim that it can be dealt with by practicing meditation and/or other breathing exercises.

• Besides the health paradigms, pregnant women also need to ensure safety of themselves and their child by taking conventional precautions like not lifting heavy weights, not bending too often and not doing a lot of strenuous physical activity. At work, this can be ensured by asking for help (there’s no shame in it ladies!) and by informing your superiors that your condition, which is temporary, needs to be taken into account while being assigned work.

• More importantly, women who deal with chemicals, or radiation, or solvents, or fumes, need to confirm with their doctor if working during pregnancy is safe for them. In fact, in situations where there is a recognized risk, you may even be barred from working, which will be compensated by the employer either monetarily or by assigning you to a different task for the time being.

Most organizations do their bit in ensuring that work environments are safe from hazards; however, some may need a little tweaking or a reminder. But once the problems are brought to the fore, particularly by a pregnant woman, organizations will gladly, and as is binding on them, take the issue seriously and make the required changes to ensure that their employee can have a safe pregnancy.

Author Bio: Doctors Health Press publishes monthly health newsletters for a wide array of alternative and natural health topics like healing foods, homeopathic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, hidden cures for common illnesses, and natural self-healing.