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Car Travel in Pregnancy

by Marjorie Greenfield, M.D.
reviewed by Marjorie Greenfield, M.D.
In some ways, traveling by car is the best way to go in pregnancy. You have room for your personal items, and you have control over when you stop and when you travel.

The article offers up some good general advice when it comes to traveling while pregnant, but here are a couple of additional thoughts to consider when it comes to car travel.

Wear a seatbelt
You might think that a seatbelt would put too much pressure on the baby in the event of an accident, but that's not the case. Numerous studies have shown that both mother and baby are safest if the mom is buckled in. This is probably because in order for the baby to survive, his mother must survive the accident as well--and that's much more likely, of course, if she is belted in.

If you are expecting, wear your safety belt low and tight across your lap, and push your seat as far back as it will go in order to keep as much distance as possible between you and the airbag.

Take lots of breaks
Yes, it can be frustrating to add time to an already long trip. But it's important to take breaks from sitting and walk around for about 10 minutes every two to three hours. Otherwise, you'll be increasing your risk of developing blood clots in the legs, because of pooling of blood in the leg veins combined with the increased clotting factors in pregnant women's blood. Move around to keep your blood circulating and that's one less worry you'll have.

 RELATED INFORMATION
*  Pregnancy Exercises for Your Back
*  Travel in Pregnancy


Created December 05, 2000
Reviewed August 05, 2004
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