An Art of Parenting

Posts Tagged ‘complete rest’

For those who are pregnant, additional care has to be shown as it is one body carrying two souls! Staying healthy during the pregnancy period is fully in your hands and apart from the regular medication, a lot of mental exercise is necessary to stay healthy. Remember, when you are healthy both physically and mentally, you are also making the little foetus within you too to be healthy and happy.

The nutrition, which you prefer to eat directly, affects it and so, always consult with your family doctor regarding the diet you have to follow. Never skip your regular checkups with the doctor and do not fail to follow the medicines assigned by them. Always keep in mind, whatever you do, has its direct influence on your kid.

The practice of wrapping up the child was brought to us by the British. In the womb, the child remains in a curled up position and the pressure of the uterus is constantly exerted on the baby’s body. This pressure disappears once the child emerges from the womb. The new-found freedom allows the child to move its limbs about unobstructed. The post-natal environment is radically different from that in the womb.

The warm, comforting, pressure of the uterus is no longer there and the mild may not sleep peacefully. The idea behind wrapping the child up tightly is to make it feel snug and secure and induce it to sleep long. This practice prevails in hospitals and big cities. It is easier to carry a wrapped up baby. The mother to o need not fumble and flounder confusedly during breast feeding, for the bundled baby is easier to handle.

In some families, particularly those living in small towns or villages, the child is not tied up but is kept in a cradle and covered with a light quilt or sheet. After 1 ½ – 2 months the growing child breaks loose of its restrictions. The hands and legs fidget enough to free themselves of the constraining cloth whether it is tied or merely used as a cover.

A mother should not be bathed on first day of delivery but simply sponged with Luke warm or natural cold water (not iced but she can herself take bath after 2^nd or 3^rd day of delivery). Following safeguard and cautions are imperatively essential for general maintenance of health of the mother in post-delivery period. Remember mother’s good health is a launching pad for the new born baby’s care and health.

• She should take complete rest-in-bed for, at least 5-6 hours after delivery.
• She should pass urine, stool in bed during first 24 hours but she can sleep or turn in bed as per her convenience.
• From 2^nd to 7^th day she should not exert bur spend most of her time in bed. She may use an easy chair and relax.
• She should adjust her sleeping time with her child’s sleeping/awakening times.
• It takes about 6-8 weeks for her to return to preconception stage, hence she must take reasonable rest, but keep up with moderate activities like visit to closet, taking bath, looking after and feeding her child, nursing the child.
• After period of 6-8 weeks she can attend to normal house work, attend to her office.
• In order to ensure free movement of bowels and urinary flow she should consume plenty of fresh water and other fluids but avoid taking all types of spices, fats, condiments, alcohol and smoking.
• She should resume her normal physical activity by way of morning and evening walk, cooking, doing domestic work.
• Her diet should contain high protein, milk, curd, fruits and vegetables, calcium and iron etc.

Pregnant ladies who are easy going, sloth and inactive, have rigid joints with painful swelling, digestion related problems, swelling offset, pendulous abdomen, extra weight, suffer from acidity, belching, eructations flatulence, colic, constipation, head-ache, general malaise etc. are advised not to lead a sedentary life nor overwork their bodies. Rest is needed to calm down your tired limbs & agitated nerves but rest does not mean you should remain inactive and abstain from your normal domestic chores (routine work). A woman who leads a sedentary and inactive life is most likely to give birth to a mentally and physically inactive/retarded children who mental faculties and physical movements would be found wanting.

After lunch you should rest for a while but never sleep-if you wish, you can have a short nap. Never asleep or lie down immediately after taking your meals. After dinner, you can have a stroll (but no fast walking). Even normal movement and mobility in the house, while doing normal domestic jobs, will suffice to ensure your and your baby’s proper development but you must take proper and requisite diet in proportion to the calories expended during activity – whether it is light, moderate or medium or heavy. In any case, you must avoid rigorous activity and avoid (rather rule out) all situations where you feel to get tired, exhausted and weak.

Reasonable activity, requisite diet and rest are the three parameters of a regulated and healthy life and you have a strike a proper balance with and amongst all the three facets.