Health |
Proper balance between work and rest The pregnant woman should moderate her work and rest. “The pregnant woman should not have overrest, for overrest causes Qi stagnation; the pregnant woman should not have overstrain, for overstrain results in Qi deficiency.” A proper amount of movement is beneficial to the fetal development and can prevent dystocia as well.
The pregnant woman can only do ordinary housework, but can not move and lift heavy objects due to the reaction of pregnancy at the early stage of pregnancy. Working at night and understanding heavy physical labor are both not advisable. She should often go outdoors to take a walk, breathe in fresh air and receive sunlight. At the stage of mid-pregnancy, the pregnant woman should not have overrest, but should undertake a certain amount of physical labor and proper amount of exercise like Tai Chi Chuan (taiji quan) and traveling. Nevertheless, she should avoid strenuous exercises such as riding a horse, cycling, swimming and running. At the late stage of pregnancy, rest is mainly advisable. However, the pregnant woman should not oversleep with indulgence in it. She may take a walk regularly and have the proper exercise to await the right time for labor. The pregnant woman should have sufficient sleeping time of 8 hours each night. This should be guaranteed. At the late stage of pregnancy, she should have bed rest of an hour at noon. The sleeping time should be further increased and the left lateral position assumed in sleeping several weeks before the parturient time. Abstinence from sexual life
The pregnant woman should be free from avarice and wild fancy and recuperate quietly in a separate room away from her husband. Sexual life should be particularly forbidden at the early stage of pregnancy and three months at the prenatal period. Otherwise, it may give rise to fetal toxicosis, vaginal bleeding during pregnancy and abortion. Using drugs with caution Drugs should not be recklessly used so as to prevent the fetal injury if the pregnant woman is not ill; excessive administration of tonics may lead to dystocia due to oversized fetus. If the pregnant woman suffers from a disease, she should receive treatment as soon as possible. She should not only be fettered by the contraindications of administration in pregnancy, but also deal with them with caution. Some western medicines affect the fetus greatly such as diazepam, aspirin, tetracycline and antiepileptic. These drugs are not used in general. They should be administrated according to the doctor's advice. |
|
Copyright © 2005 China Culture Network Inc. All rights reserved