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editor   Deborah Pipas
BellaOnline's Disabilities Editor
 

Helping a Pregnant Woman with Cerebral Palsy

Many times people with Cerebral Palsy or another disability needs personal care help. How can you help?

A caregiver might be nervous taking care of someone who is pregnant with a disability. This is perfectly understandable. You do not want to hurt the woman or the baby. I'd suggest these solutions:

- I would suggest to educate yourself as much as possible about their disability. Every disability is different.

- Discuss your fears and concerns with the woman. Don't worry about offending her. She needs to hear your concerns. She probably has concerns herself.

- A woman with CP should not have anything different as anyone else. She needs to go to the OB regularly and have ultrasounds. She should also take prenatal vitamins. I found vitamins that I could take twice a day instead of one big one helped me because of difficulty swallowing.

- She might need extra help because of morning sickness (it can hit you anytime) and the need to use the bathroom more frequently.

- It's very important to keep her moving. Be careful of pressure sores especially if she gains a lot of weight.

- She might need more rest or quiet time.

- My arms and hands hurt me a lot during the last trimester. Tylenol arthritis helped me and massage. The pain went away after giving birth.

- She'll need a plan to care for the baby after delivery.

- She'll need support and confidence building that she can do this.

Most importantly, she'll need you to listen to what she needs.

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Content copyright © 2008 by Jessica Steinmetz. All rights reserved.
This content was written by Jessica Steinmetz. If you wish to use this content in any manner, you need written permission. Contact Deborah Pipas for details.



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