The pregnant driver and passenger
No doubt, some of our advice to driving women are common, regardless of their pregnancy, but it must be stressed that driving pregnant women are at higher risks than a pregnant woman who is a passenger.
In the event of accident with injuries, being pregnant can make them to be much more serious, for exposing also the life of the fetus.
And if it occurs that in the event of accident injuries in the chest organs and the viscera of the abdomen frequently occur for direct crash or distention.
Another series of typical injuries of drivers involve the bones and joints, such as hip dislocations for crashing against the dashboard, and fractures of the legs.
All those injuries lead to a prolonged absolute rest, certainly harmful for the pregnancy state.
Pelvic ring fractures are frequent, with urinary complications and those of pregnancy itself.
All these injuries and others not only can compromise the course of pregnancy, but some of them can also result in a defect, deformity or obstacle that leads to performing hard, and certainly dangerous procedures during labor.
The pregnant passenger
The pregnant woman can be a passenger in a car when she has no history of frustrated pregnancy or current threat of miscarriage, and is completely free of lower or lumbo-sacral abdominal pain.
Advices
- It is recommended that the pregnant passenger seats in the rear seat.
- The travel, assuming it is long, should be made in a four-door car, with a good suspension, whenever possible broad and comfortable.
- The driver will drive at a moderate speed, avoiding insofar as possible the irregularities of the road surface and sharp braking, violent displacements and, of course, stopping every 100 or 150 kilometers.
- The pregnant woman with a history of miscarriage or with symptoms of a possible miscarriage threat should NOT travel by car and much less drive.
- The irregularities of the road surface, the ups and downs of driving, and sharp maneuvers favor miscarriage or premature childbirth in risk pregnancies.
- Nausea, lightheadedness, and vomiting, frequent in pregnant women, worsen in long journeys.
The driving pregnant woman
Driving is an activity that is not contraindicated in pregnant women, provided it is pregnancy without problems and with the due precautions.
Pregnancy is a natural process that need not prevent the future mother from performing most of her previous daily activities, and driving is one of them.
Nevertheless, some details should be considered, for the changes the cause in the body.
The size acquired by the abdomen in the second term of pregnancy increases the difficulties when driving, and, in case of accident, the impact in pregnancy can be particularly dangerous.
Furthermore, at this time of pregnancy there can be risk of premature delivery that should be avoided at any price.
The two most critical periods for driving are the first and the third quarter.
In the first one, the body of women has not undergone major modifications yet and it is not necessary to adjust the seat or the steering wheel.
In the third quarter, on the contrary, and due to the enlarged abdomen, the distance between the belly and the steering wheel is significantly reduced, so the preestablished positions should be adjusted.
This can hinder the control of the steering wheel and of the pedals, particularly in short women.
A pregnant woman who drives and has a traffic accident does not run more or less risk than a non-pregnant woman, but indeed complications directly related to her condition can occur.
The most serious risk for the fetus, in these cases, is maternal death than would result in, amost surely, the death of the same.
In the first quarter, the main danger of suffering an accident is that this causes a miscarriage.
In the second and the third quarter the most important problems, by order of frequency, are the detachment of the placenta, the bleeding of the placenta, the rupture or laceration of the uterus and direct fetal injury.
Furthermore, the possibility that delivery is triggered in the forty-eight hours following the accident is multiplied by two.
The ideal situation is to travel accompanied from week thirty of pregnancy.
The pregnant woman, for her special emotional and affective situation due to her own state, runs the risk of suffering in her psyche a distressing impact that can have affect unfavorably her and even her fetus, not even in the case of an accident, but also in case of a dangerous situation when driving.
Low back pain is very frequent during pregnancy. This pain interferes with the driving position, so it is recommended to use the pelvic girdle and perform the table of exercises, that improves these symptoms substantially.
In the case of long journeys, pregnant women should be recommended to travel by train and particularly by plan, even though her physiological and obstetric conditions are normal.
If a crash occurs, though apparently not significant, it should be notified to the specialist as soon as possible. Any type of complication will be thus ruled out in the mother and in the normal development of the fetus.
After delivery, the mother should wait for one to three weeks before driving again.
If during delivery a cesarean section should be carried out, the usual period of one to three weeks should be extended to at least one month and a half. In any case, the gynecologist should be consulted.
Advices
- Driving is an activity not contraindicated in pregnant women, provided it is a pregnancy free from problems with the due precautions.
- Pregnancy is a natural process that should not prevent the future mother from performing most tasks previously fulfilled, and driving is one of them.
- Nevertheless, some details should be taken into account, for the changes occurring in the body.
- The size acquired by the abdomen in the second term of pregnancy increases the difficulties in driving, and in the event of accident the impact on pregnancy can be particularly dangerous.
- Furthermore, at this time of pregnancy, when there can be a risk of premature labor that should be avoided at any price.
- The two most critical periods for driving are the first and the third term.
- In the first one, the body of the woman has not undergone major changes yet and it is not necessary to adjust the seat or the steering wheel.
- On the contrary, in the third term and due to the enlarged abdomen, the distance between the belly and the steering wheel decreases significantly, which makes it necessary to adjust the preestablished positions.
- This can hinder the control of the steering wheel and of the pedals, particularly in short women.
- A pregnant woman who drives and has a traffic accident does not run nor more nor less risk than a non-pregnant woman, but indeed complications directly related to her condition can occur.
- The most serious risk for the fetus, in these cases, is mother’s death than would result in, almost surely, the death of the fetus.
- In the first term, the main danger of suffering an accident is that it provokes miscarriage.
- In the second and the third term, the most important problems, by order of frequency, are placental detachment, placental bleeding, disruption or laceration of the uterus and direct fetal injury.
- Furthermore, the possibility of triggering labor in the forty-eight hours following the accident is twofold.
Recommendation
- It is most appropriate to travel accompanied from week 30 of pregnancy.
- The pregnant woman, for her special emotional and affective condition resulting of her sate, runs the risk of suffering in her psyche a distressing impact that can affect unfavorably her and her fetus, not only in the event of an accident, but also in the event of a dangerous situation in driving.
- Low-back pain is very common during pregnancy. Low-back pain interferes with the driving position, so it is recommended to use a pelvic girdle and perform the table of exercises that improve substantially these symptoms.
- In case of long travels, it is always recommended that the pregnant woman do them by train and particularly by airplane, even if her physiological and obstetric conditions are normal.
- In case of crash, though apparently not significant, the specialist should be informed as soon as possible. This will rule out any complication in the mother and the normal fetal development.
- After delivery, the mother should wait between one and three weeks before driving again.
- If during labor a cesarean section should be performed, this usual term of one to three weeks should be extended to one month and a half at least. In any case, the gynecologist should be consulted.