If you've felt guilty during your pregnancy for wanting to relax and put your feet up, you really have no reason to, especially since a new study has found that pregnant women who stand up for long hours at work wind up having smaller babies due to their growth being slowed down.
And in addition to that, the research also concluded that pregnant women who work more than 25 hours a week have babies who weigh 5 to 7 ounces less at birth than babies born to moms who worked under 25 hours per week.
Researchers noted that the differences in growth happen during the third trimester, so it sounds like overdoing things during that time could potentially have an effect on your baby's growth. Do you hear that ladies? Now there's a valid excuse for sitting down and taking it easy on the job (not to mention having people fuss over you and give you a little extra pampering).
I can't help but think there must be some truth to this study based on my own son's birth weight, which was 8 pounds 1 ounce. During my last trimester, I wound up leaving my job, and I did a whole lot of sitting on the couch with my feet propped up reading magazines and watching movies. And while I did feel a little bit of guilt for ceasing to contribute to the family income, I was relieved to be able to relax and enjoy the last couple months of my pregnancy. There's really no way to tell whether my taking it easy had an effect on my son's birth weight, but if nothing else, I was less tired and stressed during my final weeks.
If you do plan on working right up until delivery, you shouldn't let this new research alarm you or make you worry about doing your job. But if you have a job that requires you to stand for long periods at a time, it may be wise to talk to your supervisor about taking extra breaks, or possibly bringing in a chair to give you some extra relief when you need it.
Are you working right up until your due date, and does this new study give you more incentive to sit down & take regular breaks?
Image via Daquella manera/Flickr
