When Your Pregnant Wife is in a Car Accident

As a predad, you will constantly worry about your pregnant wife. You'll stress over every little thing she does and you will sometimes piss her off with your obsessive safety precautions. "Don't lift that basket of laundry!" I have been accused of such obsessiveness from my wife in the past. But despite your best intentions, sometimes unexpected accidents happen and it is at the very instant that you realize, despite your best intentions, you can't really control anything.

My wife was in a fender bender last week, and its scared the crap out of me. When I first got the phone call, tons of feelings rushed through my mind. In order: Is my wife ok? Is my son (who was sitting in the carseat) ok? Is the car ok? I knew my daughter was at school at the time of the accident so I wasn't worried about her.

Car accidents are scary. Car accidents with a pregnant wife can be even scarier. Because even if it is a minor bump between vehicles, the sudden jar and rush of adrenaline can possible create a scenario with your baby in utero. Here are some things you need to know if your pregnant wife is in a car accident.

The Perfect Carseat
A baby in utero is heavily insulated by the womb and amniotic fluid. It isn't like your kid is boxed in so tight that any impact means direct contact of baby to uteran wall. The amniotic sac has some give in there. Because of this "perfect carseat" scenario, most babies are fine after a minor car accident.

{mosnooad}Abdomen Blow
If you have ever been in an accident you will know, depending on the severity, you could get serious bruising around where the seatbelt was. Any type of blow to the abdomen, including a constricting seatbelt or a deployed airbag can create trauma for the baby.

Placental Abruption
The biggest concern for pregnant moms after impact is what they call a placental abruption. This is the name given to the condition where the placenta tears away partially or fully from the uteran wall. This puts the baby in great distress as it cuts off all incoming and outgoing functions from your wife to the kid. Basically it is like when they blew up the bridge in The Dirty Dozen: Nothing coming in, nothing going out.

An abruption can occur and your wife won't even feel a thing. Or, it can occur and she could be bleeding. Either way, after any accident, big or small, you or your wife should contact the doctor immediately.

Contractions
Impact with or without a placental abruption can potentially cause contractions. Obviously you don't want that baby coming out if your wife is not full term so this is another bit of concern after an accident. A trip tot he doctor would mean an exam by the obstetrician as well as a hook-up to the fetal monitor where they will measure the heart rate of the kid as well as any contractions.

High Blood Pressure
Pregnant women tend to have higher blood pressure as it is. Now take a traumatic experience like an accident, mix in an extreme shot of adrenaline and you could have a problem. Make sure you do everything possible to keep your wife relaxed, and the stress to a minimum.

My wife was lucky. The accident was minor, and she escaped with only some back soreness. After a trip to the doctor we had confirmation that the baby's heart rate was normal, and there was no contractions.

Good luck noodads and drive safe.