House cleaning during pregnancy: what precautions to use?

House cleaning during pregnancy: here’s what to pay attention to

If you’re pregnant and need to tidy and scrub, here are some common-sense tips to follow.

1. Keep your feet on the ground

   The sense of balance if you are pregnant is not the best because the weight of the belly is a bit unbalanced. It could therefore happen that during cleaning you can find yourself hovering while you are bending and stretching to clean in corners and behind objects.
   For this reason, before climbing a ladder to remove a cobweb from the ceiling or to change a light bulb, think twice (even three times). All it takes is one wrong move to lose your balance, fall and make a mess.
   This type of task, undoubtedly risky for a woman with a belly, is best left to her partner or mother, mother-in-law or aunt on duty. Okay?

2. Beware of the wet

   When you do house cleaning it happens to get wet on the floor. This is normal when you wash the floor, but it can also happen that you wet it unintentionally (for example, during the shower). Here, watch where you step and steer clear of wet floors and slippery tiles.

3. Protect your back

   Doing a thorough cleaning job and feeling a sore back afterwards is a pretty common thing . Unfortunately it is even more so if you are pregnant and spend a lot of time on your feet doing or doing household chores.

   In these cases, the wisest thing to do is to use your legs to protect your back. Instead of bending down by bending the spine it is better to stand straight with the back and flex the knees to bend and rise again. It doesn’t come instinctively it’s true, but it’s good to learn to move so as not to cause pain in the lumbar area.

   If you have back problems try wearing a supportive undergarment . This will relieve much of the strain on your back as you clean the house and also help prevent prenatal back pain before it starts.

4. Avoid lifting excessive weights or exerting great efforts

   Unless your doctor says otherwise, lifting small weights to do the cleaning isn’t dangerous. Instead, it is advisable to avoid making great efforts such as moving furniture, lifting loads, carrying heavy laundry baskets.

   What are the risks to the baby, if any? Cleanings that require excessive effort can put increased pressure on the structures inside the uterus, which can lead to serious problems. For this reason, if you need to lift or move something very heavy, ask someone for help.

5. Bring comfortable shoes

   When you are at home but above all while you are cleaning, wear light, comfortable and above all safe shoes (there are shoes on the market designed specifically for pregnancy).
   The best are those with a wide sole and rounded toe which guarantee greater stability and made in soft fabrics able to adapt to the shape of the foot and with a non-slip sole.

6. Avoid using harmful products

   Reading the label of household cleaning products is another good habit to put into practice during pregnancy. Many commercial cleaners contain harmful, irritating or toxic chemicals that can be inhaled or absorbed through the skin.
   For example, those products that have the various chemical risk symbols should be avoided (they can be recognized by a colored triangle or square with danger drawings inside).

7. Do not mix detergents

   When cleaning your house, never combine different detergents or cleaners together. Some chemicals (ammonia and bleach, in particular) can create dangerous fumes that are never good to breathe, let alone pregnant. And in any case, point 6 always applies as advice.

8. Use rubber gloves

   Cleaning and using detergents can ruin your hands and therefore you need to take care of them. During pregnancy, your skin is much more sensitive than normal, and those products that didn’t bother you before may now cause dermatitis or other conditions. But nothing you can’t fix by covering your hands with latex gloves. This will protect your skin and also keep your hands from smelling bad.

9. Use natural products

   Rather than relying on store-bought cleaners to clean your home while pregnant, why not use natural products and systems ?
   It could be a good alternative, for example, to clean with steam or select some natural products for daily use from your pantry such as white vinegar, lemon juice, sodium bicarbonate, salt and olive oil for have safe and natural cleaners at home and without using detergents .
   For example, lemon works well as a natural cleanser. Or you can mix distilled vinegar and water together it’s great to have a safe cleaner.
   However, just do an Internet search to get the exact recipes for any type of job and cleaning.

10. Have someone else clean the oven

    Cleaning the oven is a real hassle as well as a lot of work, so get someone else to clean the oven for you . In fact, commercial oven cleaners contain dangerous and very annoying chemicals for your health and that of the child if inhaled.
    Furthermore, the space in the oven is rather narrow and requires “elbow grease” which is better not to “pour” during pregnancy.

11. Ironing yes, but you can also get help

    Ironing is one of the home organization operations that does not represent a great danger for pregnant women (provided that the pregnancy and state of health is normal). There is no doubt, however, that standing for a long time with the iron in hand costs effort , can cause back pain or cause swelling in the legs.
    In these cases there are four things that can help : iron more frequently but for a short time, call someone, even for a fee, who can do it for you, iron with a press (I have it and it is actually very useful and I struggle less), do not iron at all (it is possible with the dryer).

12. Stay away from cat litter

    Cleaning the cat litter box is one of those cleanings that is best delegated. This doesn’t mean we have to stay away from our beloved pet, just that we have to stay away from his poo.
    There is an infection in fact, called toxoplasmosis, which can be transmitted through cat excrement. If the pregnant woman contracts the disease – and she may not realize it because she usually has no symptoms – she can transmit the infection to the fetus and cause serious problems.
    The best thing to do then is to ask someone else in the house to clean the cat box well and then to wash their hands well.
    If you really have no one to entrust with this task, take precautions: use disposable gloves and be careful.

13. Insecticides, pesticides and insect repellents. Should I avoid them?

    During cleaning it may happen that you have to use insect repellents .
    Although it has not been proven that the occasional use of household insecticides is harmful to the fetus, given that they are toxic products, it would be advisable to avoid using them.

    If you really can’t do without it, you could first try natural methods (there are solutions for everything on the internet). If it doesn’t resolve then wear gloves, ventilate the premises well, turn off air conditioners, remove food, cutlery or crockery from areas where chemicals will be used.
    And if it comes to using pesticides or herbicides for gardening , better get someone else to do it.

Those described are just a few useful tips for cleaning the house while pregnant.
However, the best advice is always to use common sense. If on the one hand you have to be careful not to put your child’s health at risk, on the other try to behave as you always have if your health allows it.
After all, pregnancy is not a disease. 😉