Earlier this year, a judge ordered a pregnant Florida woman to stay in bed after her doctor advised she go on bed rest.  The woman, Samantha Burton, questioned her doctor’s recommendation.  Although she was at risk for a miscarriage at week 25 of her pregnancy, she wondered if bed rest for up to 15 weeks was necessary. And as a working mother of two toddlers, she didn’t think it was feasible. 

Before Burton could seek a second medical opinion, a circuit court judge ordered that Burton stay confined to her hospital bed and to undergo “any and all medical treatments” her doctor deemed necessary for the fetus.  Unfortunately, after three days in the hospital, Burton underwent an emergency C-section and the baby was found dead. 

The case continues in district court to determine if the lower court overstepped its boundaries. Can a court intervene in a pregnant woman’s care of her fetus? 

Burton’s predicament isn’t so unusual. According to a Wiser Pregnancy survey, just over 11% of pregnant women have been put on bed rest.  Although medical professionals debate the effectiveness of bed rest at preventing preterm delivery or miscarriage, women with certain conditions – high blood pressure, cervical insufficiency, pregnancy with multiples – may very well end up spending several weeks on bed rest.

Doctors may recommend bed rest even for conditions that aren’t severe. Of women put on bed rest:

• 21.8% report that their condition was not severe
• 37.6% report that their condition was somewhat severe
• 20.0% report that their condition was severe
• 20.6% report that their condition was very severe

Obviously, bed rest can take a substantial toll on career, parenting and other responsibilities. Yet regardless of the severity of the condition, many women will go on bed rest if their doctor advises it.

Do you think Burton was justified in her objection, or was the judge right to step in to protect the fetus’s best interest? And if your doctor orders bed rest, how will you respond?

Whether you love your job or you bear it out of economic necessity, you’re probably doing the math to see how many days of leave you can take during or after pregnancy.

Even excluding taking leave to give birth, 100% of pregnant women plan to reduce their work hours, take additional leave or quit their jobs, according to a WiserPregnancy survey.  Nearly 40% of women plan to reduce their work hours, and about 60% of women plan to take additional time off or quit their jobs during pregnancy or after the baby arrives.

The Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires U.S. employers to give employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year.  You’re guaranteed your group health benefits during this leave, but paid maternity leave is rare in the U.S. 

Compared to leave policies in other developed countries, the U.S.’s leave policy is somewhat stingy.  Some European countries offer more than 4 months of 100% paid leave. 

Therefore, many women in the U.S. combine short-term disability, sick leave, vacation, personal day and unpaid family leave (also called maternity or parental leave) to take the time they need before delivery and before returning to work.   

Many new moms want more time with the new baby.  Some women cut back on their hours to make working while pregnant more manageable or make it easier to ease back into professional life after having been out for several weeks. 

Taking extra leave may be a necessity as much as a desire.  Your doctor may order you to avoid unnecessary stress or prescribe bed rest.  You may struggle to stay productive at work if you suffer from morning sickness, fatigue, the urge to urinate frequently, back pain or other common pregnancy symptoms. You may also have safety concerns about your job or need to attend frequent doctor appointments.

 How much leave did you take?  Why did you decide to take that much (or that little) leave?

What’s the most common ailment during pregnancy?  Fatigue takes the top spot. 

A recent WiserPregnancy survey finds that almost three-quarters of women experience fatigue—extreme tiredness or exhaustion—during pregnancy.  The next most common ailments were back pain (experienced by 68% of women) and morning sickness (faced by 58% of moms-to-be). 

Why does pregnancy sap your energy?  Physical changes are largely responsible.  Your hormone levels spike during the first few weeks of pregnancy as your body prepares itself to nourish a developing baby.  Progesterone in particular can cause sluggishness and sleepiness. 

Read the rest of this entry »

As most pregnant women know, morning sickness is a lie – that wave of nausea can hit any time. And when it comes, there are few effective remedies for it, according to a new WiserPregnancy survey.

The survey found that pregnant women try, on average, 3 to 4 remedies for morning sickness. Yet none control the condition: Almost two-thirds of respondents (62%) report that no remedies are “highly effective.”

The three most popular remedies to try:

• Eating smaller meals more frequently (76% of women try this)
• Getting more rest (64%)
• Avoiding trigger foods (62%)

Unfortunately, the most effective of these – avoiding target foods – isn’t:  Only 27% of the women who avoided those foods found it “very effective.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Whether you love or hate your job, you’re probably glad to have employment during these tough times. But as a result, many pregnant women are reluctant to share their baby news with the boss.

A recent WiserPregnancy survey found that income makes a difference when pregnant women share the news.  Higher-income women are less likely than lower-income women to tell their employer early in the pregnancy:

• 53% of women from low-income ($30,000 or less per year) households share the news in the first two months
• 38% of women from high-income ($100,000 or more per year) households tell their boss in the first two months

Read the rest of this entry »