Bed rest unnecessary?

Glamour was just a wealth of imformation this month.  According to one of their reporters, new research at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland found that women confined to bed were actually more likely to deliver low birth-weight babies and gain less healthy weight themselves.  And there's really very little evidence that bed rest lengthens gestation.  Furthermore, it often causes such negative effects as muscle atrophy, back pain and fatigue, stress and depression for pregnant women.  They recommend getting the opinion of a perinatologist (a maternal-fetal medicine specialist with training in high-risk pregnancies) if you are sentenced to bed rest.

As much as I said "Oh how I'd love just one day of bed rest!" during my second pregnancy, I never really meant it.  I've heard it's awful and I cross my fingers for all of you you never have to bear the pain and isolation (plus, you'd never get to show off all the cute maternity clothes you bought at our store! :) )

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