How To Stay Healthy At The Workplace During Pregnancy

It’s common for many women to stay at work during pregnancy. While some of them only do it during a short period, others stay at work until the due date. Pregnancy and work can be compatible if you know how to stay healthy and keep yourself comfortable throughout this period of your life.

However, work during pregnancy is something that not all women can do, at least not if their current job puts their health at risk. Still, your doctor probably already told you what some do's and don'ts for pregnancy at work are.

If you would like to expand your knowledge a bit, get to know how you can make yourself more comfortable and healthy while you're pregnant at work. Here we have some healthy pregnancy tips you can incorporate into your daily routine.

How to maintain a healthy pregnancy at work

Work and pregnancy can maintain a balanced relationship if you know how to take care of yourself while you’re at it. The following pregnancy healthy tips will help you assure you’ll feel as good as possible during your workdays, at least until it is time to meet the new member of your family.

1. Assure you’ll feel comfortable throughout the workday

It’ll be strange not to feel comfy while doing the activities you used to do with ease before pregnancy. However, you can “improve” the conditions at your workstation to assure you’ll feel comfortable throughout the work and pregnancy day.

• Get a nice ergonomic office chair. These chairs were designed to provide the user with the utmost comfort possible, and some models have technology that adapts to your body shape. You can take advantage of that as your body will continue changing as every month passes; hence, it will be easier for you to maintain a comfortable posture. Getting or requesting an office chair for pregnancy should be one of your first steps.

• Use a standing desk. If you deal with back pain too often but cannot overlook your work, perhaps a standing desk may allow you to switch your work position without necessarily neglecting it. Standing desks are an excellent addition to any office, especially because you’re able to set them up so that they can go in accordance with your body proportions.

2. Morning sickness and nausea are manageable

For the first work and pregnancy tip, we would like to tell you that morning sickness doesn’t have to become an annoying companion that makes you wonder why you attended your workplace in the first place; or maybe, if you work from home, why you decided not to go through a break during the pregnancy period.

Here’s what you can do to avoid feeling such discomfort on a daily basis.

• Don’t forget to drink water. Keeping yourself hydrated is important. We recommend keeping a water bottle near your desk for that purpose.

• Keep your blood sugar levels high by eating bland and salty foods or snacks. These will do better for you and will keep you away from feeling nauseous.

• What’s triggering your nausea? Always keep an eye on those triggers (smells, food) that can cause you to start feeling sick.

• Keep your stomach satisfied. Remember to eat something every two to three hours. Having an empty stomach can make your symptoms worse.

• Take a break and get fresh air. If you can take effective breaktime now and then, you can always see going out and walking for a while as an option. However, if you're not, you can always open up the window whenever the wind is acting up. It would help if you avoided the heat, however.

3. Control your fatigue

Fatigue during pregnancy is extremely common. However, similar to morning sickness and nausea is manageable without incorporating "big changes" into your life.

• Consume foods with optimal iron and protein levels. Fatigue can be a side effect of the lack of the aspects mentioned above, which is why you should always have foods like red meats and leafy green vegetables in your diet.

• Don't push yourself too hard, and remember to take breaks. You should do it more often than you normally would, though.

• Don’t neglect your fitness routine. We know that doing exercise may not be the greatest thing when you’re feeling fatigued, but it can be hugely helpful towards it.  You can do yoga at your desk to boost your energy levels. If you remain seated for prolonged periods, perhaps doing seated back, stretches can help.

4. Keeping yourself coolheaded

Stress is another work and pregnancy factor you must deal with while you're pregnant. As you will be working, you will inevitably feel overwhelmed from time to time. Similar to the aspects mentioned above, you can control stress, so it doesn't take over you. Remember that all of this energy may affect your baby, but there are ways you can use it to control this negativity.

• Remember to keep yourself in control. Make a list of all the tasks you need to do during the day and prioritize them. You can also see if some of them can be handed over to someone else or even be "eliminated." A to-do list may also be very helpful. Having all your tasks completed by the end of the day will bring you another level of satisfaction.

• Don’t hesitate to talk about how you feel. We feel more stressed when we keep everything to ourselves. Thus, if you’re feeling bad about something, remember to always share it with someone you can trust.

• Just chill. It can be hard for you to stay relaxed while you’re working, but taking it easy will help you maintain a great mindset throughout the day. As mentioned above, prenatal yoga can be extremely helpful toward relaxation, but remember to ask your physician if it’s okay.

Conclusion

Making the pregnancy and work relationship work may take some time as there are many changes you must implement, but it’s not impossible. Following the work and pregnancy advice mentioned above will help you feel more comfortable and stay healthy until the new member of the family is ready to meet this world.