Doing chest compressions while pregnant

FlyingScot, RN · Jul 29, 2008

Uhm...no you did not hurt your baby.

Nursonegreat · Jul 29, 2008

i did compressions for a few min and i was 6 mos preg. i have a healthy, rambuncious 3.5 yr old!!! GL

scribblerpnp · Jul 29, 2008

No your baby was safe inside a cusion of amniotic fluid. It may have even liked the motion. I would equate doing compressions as on the same level of having intercourse (as far as what the baby feels-OBVIOUSLY!).

If that could hurt a baby, mine is in T-R-O-U-B-L-E!

clairebearrn · Jul 30, 2008

NO! I was 7 months pregnant and did chest compressions for three minutes...I just got mad because my big belly was in the way...dont worry...youll be fine! :)

MAISY, RN-ER, BSN, RN · Jul 30, 2008

NO! I was 7 months pregnant and did chest compressions for three minutes...I just got mad because my big belly was in the way...dont worry...youll be fine! :)

Good for you, 7 month bellys tend to do that:wink2:.

Cute picture.

Maisy

mpccrn, BSN, RN · Jul 30, 2008

your pregnant........not ill. i did everything the job required in an icu for both my kids and they came out fine. :heartbeat

CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN · Jul 30, 2008

If you were on bed rest or high risk...maybe.

As a PP said...pregnancy is not an illness. I shovel snow, mow the lawn, rake the leaves etc and sometimes I do all of that with the other kids on my hip. (JK on the last part, LOL)

You will be fine. Only issue is that you might tire out easier.

rn/writer, RN · Jul 30, 2008

"Shaken baby syndrome" is a severe and tragic event in which someone shakes an infant or a young child, causing the head to arc forward and back in a whiplash motion. This sudden, drastic movement destroys nerve connections and ruptures blood vessels in the brain, leaving the child with damage ranging from developmental delays to blindness to coma to death.

Because your child is still in the womb, this kind of neck action is impossible. Your baby is curled in a little ball (fetal position) and even if he/she stretches a bit, there won't be the kind of rapid and extreme movement that causes damage.

My concern with performing CPR while pregnant is fatigue on your part or, in the later stages of pregnancy, stimulating contractions. Even then, I doubt that doing CPR would induce early labor. If it did, there would be a whole lot of late-term moms bending over Annie mannequins.

You should be fine.

LandDRN · Jul 30, 2008

LOL, no your baby is well protected. Before I became an L&D nurse I was a cardiac nurse and ran to the code with the code cart and started chest compressions while 8 mionths pregnant. Again another victim of malpractice wariness. Women have been lead to believe they need to be on bedrest at home with their feet up for even the lowest risk pregnancy so "just in case" the healthcare team is safe from liability.

emnicams · Jul 30, 2008

If it did, there would be a whole lot of late-term moms bending over Annie mannequins.

This made me giggle. When I think of all the walking I did when I was full-term, trying to get that baby OUT..teehee. (it didn't work, he came when he was ready!)