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High-risk Pregnancies
Why Dads are a Crucial Part of the Support
By Teri Brown
Being put on bed rest during a pregnancy is never fun. Not only can it get incredibly boring, but the possible danger to the mother's or the baby's health can cause unimaginable stress. The support the mom-to-be receives at this crucial time can make the difference between the unendurable and the manageable, and dads are at the forefront of this support system.
Katie-Anne Gustafsson, a mother of three from Eskilstuna, Sweden, was told she had probable placenta previa 18 weeks into her pregnancy. Looking back, she doesn't know how she would have made it if her husband hadn't stepped up to the plate for her.
"I wasn't admitted into the hospital but I was placed on an honor system at home," says Gustafsson. "I was allowed to sit at the computer, to sit on the sofa, to wander around the apartment and sit out on the balcony, to go to the bathroom and bed. This was my life for the next two months. Mikael stepped up, making sure that there wasn't anything that I needed from outside before leaving me, keeping in check throughout the day on the telephone to make sure I was doing what I'd been told, and keeping me company when he could see I was feeling a bit down."
Gustafsson remembers her husband making her laugh and giving her massages at night when she was the most frightened about losing the baby. It helped knowing she wasn't alone in her fears. "I don't know what I would have done without Mikael's strength, optimism, willingness to just take on anything I wasn't supposed to do without question and general love and caring," says Gustafsson. "I may be the one who gets the credit for having saved the baby, but he saved my sanity and allowed me to keep safe while protecting our child."
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