One thing I wish midwives and health professionals taught pregnant ladies is how to get in and out of bed safely.

Getting in and out of bed CORRECTLY when you are pregnant is really important. Your abdominal muscles are already stretched beyond where they would like to be, and they really don’t like being put under additional strain.

You may know that you shouldn’t be doing exercises that work your abdominals, such as crunches. But many people do not consider the implications of getting in and out of bed essentially by doing a sit up (which is what most of us do when we don’t have a bump).

Watch how the lovely Suzie does it in this video. I recommend starting this even before you have a bump. This way you are used to it by the time you do!

[ux_video url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egKnAQUcR3s”]

The best way to get in and out of bed when you are pregnant:
– start by sitting on your bed

-lower the top half of your body towards the bed using your arms

-at the same time swing/lift your legs up onto the bed (ideally the 2 together will act like a pendulum)

-one you are lying sideways on the edge of the bed you can shuffle into a comfy position

-repeat in reverse to get out of bed

Once you are in bed is another story. Head over to our advice on this in ‘how to get comfy in bed when you are pregnant‘ where we show you a simple trick using 2 normal pillows or the bbhugme.