Bending while pregnant

[Hellosunshine97]

I'm 16+5 days pregnant and work in a preschool, yesterday I did alot of picking up and bending down and up again , (felt like a workout) woke up this morning so exhausted but I was little concerned as Google says bending causes miscarriage, just need a little reasurrance, nervous FTM I have my midwife appointment soon so will be talking to her about my thoughts and how paranoid I get

Thank you lovelies💕

Bending does not cause miscarriage. Google it’self is not a place to look for medical info - you need to selective about which websites you use.

Exercise during pregnancy is good. At the end of it you’re going to do the biggest workout of your life and you need to be fit for labour.

Please don't worry. I had a horse while I was pregnant so was mucking out, pushing wheelbarrows etc even at 9 months pregnant. Your baby is well protected in there.

Oh gosh, don’t worry! I’m an OT on acute inpatient wards moving fully grown people around. I was crawling around on the floor fixing chairs and hoisting patients up to 38 weeks with my first. With my second, I was doing all that plus lugging a toddler around at home. You’re going to be more tired because your body is doing more. It’s not a sign of a miscarriage

What the hell ‘source’ gave you managed to find that says bending causes miscarriage??

Don’t be ridiculous. How do millions of pregnant women all over the world manage to function without bending, let anyone work in physical jobs until they give birth, as many do?

If you could miscarry by bending abortions wouldn’t exist.
Sounds like general pregnancy knackeredness.

You search enough and there will be somewhere that will claim pretty much everything can cause a miscarriage.

Bending most certainly will not.

Picking things up with poor form will cause pulled muscles for you but unlikely to harm baby. I still powerlift in the gym, I'm 19+2wk and just finished doing low bar barbell squats. Been training for years so perfectly safe to continue, down to 50% of what I was squatting with the day I got bfp though .

Where on google?

Bending is absolutely fine, the amniotic sac allows for it. That said towards the end of pregnancy it can become quite difficult to bend so I squatted down to pick things up instead.

Thank you It was the first thing that came up and of course it's hard not to ignore seeing that word , the reasurrance has calmed me down and yes I probably am over worrying but that's why I'm going to speak to my midwife.

Thank you for giving me your personal experiences 😊 and reasurrance again! It really has helped! 💕

Just to back up the OP here, when you google bending while pregnant the first thing that comes up is from the CDC and says:

Physical demands (lifting, standing, bending)
Heavy lifting, standing for long periods of time, or bending a lot during pregnancy could increase your chances of miscarriage, preterm birth, or injury during pregnancy. High physical demands at work have also been associated with menstrual disorders, which might reflect reduced fertility

Link: www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/repro/physicaldemands.html#:~:text=Physical%20demands%20(lifting%2C%20standing%2C,birth%2C%20or%20injury%20during%20pregnancy.

Just for those who were calling her silly...

OP - I was worried about this too, I’m constantly lifting shopping bags, my nearly 2 year old, lifting a buggy and just generally rushed off my feet on a daily basis. I always feel more tired and feels lots of stretching and pulling sensations. I seek comfort in the fact that many people around the world are in the exact same situation so baby has gotta be well protected in there!

It's the Internet that is silly. Increase risk does not equal will cause. The risk from such things when you look at the full studies is often tiny but they still note it as an increased risk.
We can't wrap ourselves up in cotton wool for the duration of pregnancy, stuff needs to be done.

Get on with your life and listen to your body, it will let you know if you are overexerting yourself.

You'll be fine OP

In general though it's best to get into the habit of squatting or hinging at the hips when you need to pick things instead of bending over. Less strain on your back and engages your pelvic floor, glutes and hamstrings.

I’ve wondered this before but how can anyone not bend for 9 months 😂 I have to bend and stretch many times a day to get stuff in and out of my kitchen cupboards for example. I think it more means doing it excessively like not for normal daily activities. For example if your job involved bending repeatedly over and over all day long.

@FruitLoopzz but those are normal, everyday things that you would do aren't they? I've been painting my baby's nursery and erecting furniture, running round after a puppy and I'm 30 weeks. I havent really slowed down (apart from having to leave my patient facing role - which was also physically demanding) and I refuse to slow down actually because pregnancy isn't an illness. OP, keep doing everything that your body is able to, it will likely help you during labour!

@abeanbaked - I’d normally do these things but I always associated a lot of pulling and stretching or lifting heavy things with miscarriage too. So I do get a bit scared when I feel like I’ve overdone myself x

I thought pregnant women were advised not to lift things that are too heavy etc because of the risk to us hurting ourselves rather than the baby, but I might be wrong.

@SpaaaaceGurl

Just to back up the OP here, when you google bending while pregnant the first thing that comes up is from the CDC and says:

Physical demands (lifting, standing, bending)
Heavy lifting, standing for long periods of time, or bending a lot during pregnancy could increase your chances of miscarriage, preterm birth, or injury during pregnancy. High physical demands at work have also been associated with menstrual disorders, which might reflect reduced fertility

Link: www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/repro/physicaldemands.html#:~:text=Physical%20demands%20(lifting%2C%20standing%2C,birth%2C%20or%20injury%20during%20pregnancy.

Just for those who were calling her silly...

That link says heavy lifting and bending has the waist. Most people do or should be bending at the knees and toddlers aren’t heavy.

@abeanbaked

I thought pregnant women were advised not to lift things that are too heavy etc because of the risk to us hurting ourselves rather than the baby, but I might be wrong.

Towards the end of pregnancy, for 6 months after and for during breastfeeding and for 3 months afterwards (which ever of the last two are longer) your ligaments soften increasing your risk of injury to the soft tissues around joints.

@abeanbaked

I thought pregnant women were advised not to lift things that are too heavy etc because of the risk to us hurting ourselves rather than the baby, but I might be wrong.

Outdated advice anyway. So long as women are careful about how they lift things the weight is not really a problem if they are strong enough.

@Thatwentbadly I just thought you were very dismissive in your first message about watching what websites she was using. The CDC is quite a trusted place to find safety and health research.

As the OP didn't mention it was the CDC she saw this information I thought I would try and help people not jump to conclusions about her seeing something daft on FB or something.