driving after birth

i drove home from hospital, vag del

also drove home from after hysterectomy, was told at 6 wk checkup i could now drive..no mention at discharge, which wouldn't have made much difference as i was only adult at home and had to drive children

i had a normal, uncomplicated vag delivery and drove the next day. at discharge i did not receive any instructions for driving restrictions.

Honestly, aside from potential discomfort and effects of pain meds, there's no real reason an NSVD should have to wait a certain number of days or weeks to drive. 2 weeks, IMO is excessive--where's the rationale behind that?

When we have PPs on our floor, I just tell them that when they feel comfortable driving, go for it. Same with laundry, cooking, vacuuming, etc.

For C-sections, it's usually in the discharge summary, otherwise I tell them to ask their MD when they go back to get their staples removed.

We say 2 weeks. There is literature that supports that in the two weeks PP(and sometimes longer) there are continual shifts in fluid and hormones. Certainly there can be shifts in BP, creating dizziness and fainting. It is probably no more than a safe guard...and realistically, moms will do as they please once they get home. But I do so love my "I told you so face" when they call and say their bleeding is heavier..."do you think moving the couch had anything to do with it???"

I have had patients come back in for treatment of eclampsia after a week PP, and patients who have gone to ICU for CHF a week PP. Why can't moms just REST??????? I know I know...there are those who just don't have the luxury. But it is something that I MUST SAY, and if it is heeded...fine. If not...well......

Wow, I had no idea that was even a recommendation- I drove 1000+ miles within a week of both of my kids' births for military moves. Of course being in cooped up in a hospital for 24 hours was like slow torture for me. My DH was in Iraq for my first's birth so if I didn't drive I guess we would have been in trouble.

I have never heard of anyone not driving after giving birth. I wonder if that's another of the regional practices?

We say 2 weeks..... It is probably no more than a safe guard...and realistically, moms will do as they please once they get home. But I do so love my "I told you so face" when they call and say their bleeding is heavier..."do you think moving the couch had anything to do with it???"

I always thought that the anesthesia was the reason to delay driving.j

That if you were involved in an accident that the insurance companies would not pay.

We say 2 weeks. There is literature that supports that in the two weeks PP(and sometimes longer) there are continual shifts in fluid and hormones. Certainly there can be shifts in BP, creating dizziness and fainting. It is probably no more than a safe guard...and realistically, moms will do as they please once they get home. But I do so love my "I told you so face" when they call and say their bleeding is heavier..."do you think moving the couch had anything to do with it???"

I have had patients come back in for treatment of eclampsia after a week PP, and patients who have gone to ICU for CHF a week PP. Why can't moms just REST??????? I know I know...there are those who just don't have the luxury. But it is something that I MUST SAY, and if it is heeded...fine. If not...well......

You are so right. If at all possible, i would recommend that new moms not drive at least a week after giving birth. I know that it can be risky just from personal experience. Once, after having my second child, I got dizzy while driving and starting to feel as if I was going to black out. After that, i took my butt back home and got in bed. I was trying to clean up, cook, do strenuous things right after birth. You just can't do that. One may get away with that one time, but it will come a time when your body may not adjust right away. At the time of my near syncope episode, I had my newborn in the back seat. It really made me take heed to what the discharge instructions say.

There is a very big difference between driving a car and moving a couch. I can see why there would be no heavy lifting or strenuous activities, but sitting in a car, turing a steering wheel? I can't wrap my brain around it.

Again..it isn't the ACTION of driving that is the problem. It is the physiologic changes going on in the body that can cause syncopal episodes, dizziness and blurred vision (amongst many others) that can cause an accident.

I am surprised at the resistance to this? Has our culture become such that an expectation of rest or taking it easy after giving birth is so outrageous? What is so pressing that you HAVE to drive immediately if not sooner after having a baby? (now I realize there are those who have circumstances that dictate that very thing, hold the hate mail, please). But then, I can't get patients to wait to have sex, so....