Bed Rest 101, with Darline Turner

The Birthful Podcast: Episode #8

In this episode of the Birthful Podcast, we are going to be talking about bed rest. Being placed on bed rest can come as a great surprise, because while preparing for birth, very few moms even think about the possibility of it happening. When is bed rest recommended and how can you make the most of it? Today I’ll be talking with Darline Turner about this and more.

Show Notes: what we talked about!

• Why bedrest?
• Questions to ask your caregiver if you are placed on bedrest
• Is bedrest a dying practice? What the research shows
• Is all bedrest created equal? The different levels of bedrest
• Physical and emotional side effects
• Feeling the uglies: loss -grief – guilt
• How to make the most of it!
• Combating isolation
• Bonus: Darline gives a couple of exercises you can do on bedrest!

Some links so you can go deeper into this topic:

• What the Mayo clinic has to say about bedrest

• Some of the things that could lead to bedrest:
  • “Incompetent cervix” — can we agree that this is a horrible name!
  • Placenta previa – from MedlinePlus
  • Gestational Diabetes – from the Amererican Diabetes Association
  • Preeclampsia – from Preeclampsia.org

• Weird word (and practice!) of the day: Cerclage

[mark]About Darline Turner[/mark]

Courtesy of Darline Turner

In 2001, Darline found out first hand how hard it can be to find information and support for high risk pregnant women, when she herself was put in this category for her first pregnancy, and then again for her second pregnancy in 2006. Being a Health and Wellness coach, exercise instructor and perinatal fitness instructor, she decided to do something about it. In 2009 she developed and launched Mamas on Bedrest & Beyond where she dedicates much of her time to creating a “one stop shop” for pregnant women on prescribed bed rest, where they can find information, support, resources and a kindred community. She also produced Bedrest Fitness, an exercise DVD of modified prenatal exercises for pregnant women on prescribed bed rest, and just last Mother’s Day, she published an e-book called “From Mamas to Mamas-The Essential Guide to Surviving Bed Rest” which is available on Amazon. Darline’s vision and mission is to change the experience of high risk pregnancy. Rather than the doom and gloom, anxiety and worry often associated with high risk pregnancies, she strives to make the Mamas on Bedrest’s experiences so pleasurable, that they become the envy of low risk pregnant mamas!

To contact Darline, you can send her an email, check out her website, or join the conversation in the Mamas on Bedrest and Beyond Facebook page. Also, check out the Mamas on Bedrest YouTube channel.