Five Tips To Help Any Husband Be Supportive To A Pregnant Wife

As a future bio father, your thoughts may be running wild. Fortunately, you have roughly nine months to prepare for your bundle of joy. As for your wife, the growing life inside her is already making his or her presence known.

As a husband, you can be your pregnant wife’s greatest source of comfort and encouragement during the rough parts of the pregnancy. While you can’t fully understand what your wife is going through, you can be more sympathetic and helpful by educating yourself about what is happening in her body.

If you know a little more about the changes her body will experience, you will be equipped to support her and keep her comfortable throughout the pregnancy. Read on to learn about a few elements of pregnancy that might surprise you, and how you can help support your wife through these times.

Blood Volume Increases

While both your hearts will grow with love for your little bundle, your wife’s heart can literally swell due to increased blood production. According to Merck Manual’s, “Home Health Handbook,” an expectant mother’s blood volume increases roughly 50 percent.

Due to the extra blood and ever-growing uterus, swelling in the legs and feet is especially bothersome. To reduce swelling, encourage your wife to sit with her legs propped up which will aid in circulation.

Especially further along in the pregnancy, it can be helpful to rest with the legs propped up to release pressure and improve the circulation. Whether you offer to do the dishes, provide a foot massage or help your wife get settled on the couch, make sure you do what you can to help reduce swelling.

Ligaments Soften

Due to a hormone known as relaxin, your wife’s ligaments will loosen in preparation for childbirth. While it is a very important hormone, it can also cause uncomfortable side effects.

Perhaps the most tiresome effect is back pain. To ease this pain, offer her a massage periodically.

Later on in the pregnancy, you can take her to a professional for a special pregnancy massage to safely release tension in the right places. Also, a day at the pool can do wonders for her back, due to the underwater experience of weightlessness.

Painful Feet Swelling

Thanks again to relaxin, your partner’s feet can grow up to a full size larger. This growth combined with poor circulation can make for painful walking and uncomfortable feet altogether.

To help her feel more like herself, buy her a new pair of comfortable shoes to help with the pain. If she feels up to it, take her shopping so she can select a pair she really likes.

Sensitivity to Smell

Estrogen is responsible for the heightened sense of smell that many women experience during pregnancy. While it may not seem like a big deal, strong smells can turn her stomach and lead to vomiting.

Help her keep odors to a minimum by avoiding highly aromatic foods and switching to unscented personal care products. By lending a hand with the cleaning around the house and keeping this sensitivity to smell in mind, you’ll do her stomach a favor that she will definitely appreciate.

Ongoing Nausea

Don’t let the term “morning sickness” fool you. It can often be all-day sickness, or at the very least, any time of the day. Eighty to 90 percent of women will experience nausea at some point in their pregnancy.

Both ginger and peppermint can be made into warm, soothing teas to combat nausea. Also, wristbands used for motion sickness are surprisingly effective for morning sickness, and often used during pregnancy.

Although your wife is the one experiencing these changes, you can still be an active participant during the pregnancy. Dr. Gilbert Webb, an obstetrician and gynecologist suggests that husbands attend their wife’s doctor appointments throughout the pregnancy when possible and appropriate.

This provides the husband an opportunity to learn more about pregnancy, ask questions, and be prepared for any possible problems that could arise.

As an informed husband, you can better support your wife through this life-changing adventure. With a few helpful tips, you can play an active role as you eagerly await your little one’s arrival.

About the author

Dixie Somers is a full-time mother and part-time freelance writer and blogger. She has written for many niches, including home, family, finance and health. She lives in Arizona with her three girls 8, 12 and 14 and husband. Dixie has contributed several articles in the past. Please check out “Teen Driver – Five Apps That Will Keep Them Safe“, and “Four Ways to Help You Better Understand Your Teenager“.

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