Managing Household Chores during Pregnancy

The article describes about how pregnant women can manage doing their household chores without causing any harm to themselves and their babies and remain fit and active during pregnancy period.Rina is happy as her pregnancy tests reports are positive but at the same time she wants to know how can she can be able to manage her household work during her pregnancy. Being pregnant does not mean that one has to stop doing household chores. Certain rules should be followed in pregnancy while doing household chores. In this articleManaging Exhaustion of Household chores in PregnancyTaking Care of Belly and Back During Household Chores in PregnancyAvoid Carrying Loads during PregnancyAvoid Standing for Long Duration in PregnancyAvoid Constant Bending during PregnancyAvoid Climbing during PregnancyAvoid Cleaning Cat Litter during PregnancyAvoid Toxic Fumes during PregnancyManaging Exhaustion of Household chores in PregnancyDuring 1st and 3rd trimesters, pregnant women feel extensively exhausted. During these periods, household chores must be divided into several days instead of doing them weekly. During a day, the chores must be done at separate times to avoid excessive exhaustion. Household chores can be done in segments e.g. one in the morning time then again another in the evening.Taking Care of Belly and Back During Household Chores in PregnancyPregnant women must pay extra attention to their back and belly while doing any kind of household chores. As pregnancy progresses backache is a common symptom because of increase in foetus size. It would become difficult for the would-be mothers to carry or life heavy loads after the 4th month of pregnancy. With time, belly size would increase and carrying loads in baskets or bags would be difficult for the pregnancy women. No such household chores should be done which may cause harm to the belly and back of a pregnant woman.Avoid Carrying Loads during PregnancyIt is advised that pregnant women should avoid carrying heavy loads like gas cylinder, older child, heavy bag full of groceries, bucket of water, a big laundry bag etc. This will help in avoiding causing extra strain on the back and baby is also safe. Carrying heavy weight may also cause bleeding, premature childbirth or sudden rupturing of amniotic sac.Avoid Standing for Long Duration in PregnancyCertain household chores may require long durations of standing and for some continuous bending may be needed. During pregnancy special care has to be taken about body posture and it is important to avoid any risky posture. Those household chores for which pregnant women need to keep standing for hours must be avoided as it would cause extra stress to feet. It would lead to swollen feet.Cooking dishes where long hours of standing is needed must be replaced with dishes that can be easily cooked. For chopping vegetables or fruits, there is no need to stand and do the work. Pregnant women must sit on chair or sofa and do chopping. This will help them to complete the work and their back and feet would have some rest as well.Avoid Constant Bending during PregnancySweeping, washing of clothes or other household chore where constant bending is needed should be strictly avoided. At no point of time constant bending for scrubbing the floor or picking up things from the floors should be done during pregnancy period. Avoid Climbing during PregnancyAnother risky posture during pregnancy is climbing while doing household chores. Climbing on the ladders or stools during any stage of pregnancy is a strict no. Whether or not anyone is around and no matter what is the type of household chore a pregnant woman has to do, climbing has to be avoided.Avoid Cleaning Cat Litter during PregnancyPets are always lovable but for a pregnant woman, cleaning of cat litter may cause serious harm to the baby. Handling of cat litter may cause toxoplasmosis infection in would-be mothers and babies would be at risk before their birth or immediately after their birth.Avoid Toxic Fumes during PregnancyCertain cleaning may require chemical agents but it is advisable that pregnant women should avoid using them. Instead natural cleaning products like vinegar, lemon juice or baking soda should be used for cleaning devices and surfaces. Any kind of toxic spray may also be harmful for the would-be mothers and the babies.Household chores are the great ways to stay active and fit during pregnancy provided they are done by following strict guidelines.