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Pregnancy causes many changes in women, not the least of which are change in
weight and its' distribution, balance and increased vulnerability of ligaments
and joints to stress. Because of these changes, the safe care of pregnant
women requires that their normal work activities be modified.
Some women
with normal pregnancies will work up until they go into labor. Others will
benefit from stopping their work activities a week or two before their
estimated delivery date. Others may find increasing fatigue so debilitating
that they must stop their activities even earlier.
Following delivery, women have traditionally been given 6 weeks to recover
before returning to work. This represents a compromise in a number of
respects:
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Some women can safely return to work earlier than 6 weeks, particularly
if the work is not full time and doesn't involve strenuous physical
activities.
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Some women need longer than 6 weeks, particularly if their pregnancy was
complicated by cesarean section or other complicating factor.
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Many women would prefer to have longer than 6 weeks off to spend time
with their newborn.
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Many employers would prefer to have their employees return sooner than 6
weeks.
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