Guest Author - Jessica Steinmetz

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.