Heavy lifting @ 21 weeks

[wingingiteveryday]

I'm freaking out a little bit.

I'm 21 weeks pregnant and my mum is staying with me as she's not well and has had a bit of a mental breakdown. Today I insisted she had a bath, as I thought it would make her feel better. She seemed to think she didn't have the strength in her arms to get out again, I managed to talk her into it and then she got stuck! She was really upset and crying so I got into the bath behind her and helped lift her up.

She's not a small woman, probably about 14 stone and I realise now that I should not be helping to lift her up but I just panicked and did it.

All evening I've been really paranoid that I might have damaged my baby. I can't even tell my partner as he will tell me off (rightly so!). I've felt normal movements and haven't had any pains or anything but I'm really getting myself at it.

Agghhhh. Help me stay off google

It probably wasn’t the best idea, but if you feel fine then you probably are fine. I’m nearly 39 weeks and still picking up 20kg bags of horse feed.

I did some research into heavy lifting during pregnancy & also asked my GP and midwife a lot of questions about it - I had a hiking & backpacking trip planned for when I was 8 weeks pregnant, which involved walking up & down hills carrying a big backpack w tent, sleeping bag, clothes, food, water etc...

GP said the risk from heavy lifting in pregnancy is to the mother not the baby - you're more likely to fall or pull a muscle than usual.

I did a fair bit of research online & didnt find any proof that heavy lifting could endanger the baby. There was one study that showed a tiny increase in miscarriage risk (like 1%) in women who worked v physical jobs involving repeatedly lifting more than 40kg throughout pregnancy.

I'm sure you & your baby will be totally fine :)

I hope you're getting some support and have people around to look after you as well though, caring for a parent (or anyone having mental health issues) is really exhausting & hard work.