Obstetricians Need To Better Understand Costs, Benefits Of Recommending Bed Rest For Pregnant Women, Opinion Piece Says

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Article Date: 29 Mar 2006 - 18:00 PDT

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Obstetricians need to "recognize the profound psychological and physical costs" of recommending bed rest for prenatal complications "and thoroughly research its putative benefits before yet another generation of women finds itself" subject to the treatment, Sarah Bilston, an English professor at Trinity College and author of the upcoming book "Bed Rest," writes in a New York Times opinion piece. Although bed rest is recommended by physicians in the U.S. to treat "just about any pregnancy-related problem," doctors in other countries "are far less likely to prescribe it," Bilston writes, adding that "there are substantial doubt[s] within the medical profession about [its] efficacy." She says there is an "astounding" lack of research on "bed rest's value for the long shopping lists for which it is prescribed," as well as a lack of "recognition of its consequences." Pregnant women often choose bed rest because "they feel they have little choice but to follow advice they are given by their doctors," but it often leads to "feelings of frustration and isolation" that could reach "outright depression, not to mention the burden of lost wages and other financial costs," Bilston says (Bilston, New York Times, 3/24).

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