Is it Safe to Move While Pregnant?

Whether you’re moving down the street or embarking on a long-distance journey halfway across the country, moving is a stressful ordeal as it is. Throw a pregnancy into the picture and you can bet you’ll have your work cut out for you.

There is a lot of chaos involved in moving, and the mental, physical, and emotional demands of pregnancy can complicate the process even more.

Sometimes, though, circumstances in life may force us to move house during a pregnancy, leaving us with little choice in the matter.

When you find yourselves in a situation like this, how do you approach the move while ensuring your utmost safety?

The question of whether it is safe to move during pregnancy is dependent on a whole range of factors:

• How far along are you in your pregnancy?
• What tasks exactly will you be tasked with?
• Do you plan to enlist any help, whether it’s friends and/or family or full service movers?
• How long is the distance you’re looking at?

These are some of the key questions you’ll need to address.

If we were to answer this in the briefest way possible, we would say “No, don’t do anything yourself. Hiring professional movers is the most logical step”.

Of which it is, mind you…

That said, we would like to share some tips that should prove super helpful if you’re pregnant and happen to have a move on the cards.

Time your Move

Ideally, you want to move before the baby comes due to the disruption that comes with moving. You want to be settled in already when the baby comes without the headache of planning for a move and all that comes with it.

If you’re flexible or have some control over the moving date, the best time to move is ideally the second trimester, according to experts.

The reason given for this is that by this time, the morning sickness of the first trimester is behind you and the physical discomfort associated with the third is yet to begin.

Most women tend to have more energy (physical and mental) during the second trimester.

Enlist some help

If you can swing it, the best way to move is to hire professional movers and packers.

We alluded to hiring full-service moving services earlier. The thing with full-service is that the moving company handles every aspect of the move for you – from sourcing packing supplies, to unpacking and arranging stuff at your new place, and everything in between.

Full-service moving is a bit costly (and understandably so) but you can bring the costs down by opting to do some of the tasks yourself, particularly the packing. Then you can choose to leave the heavy lifting to the pros.

If professional movers are out of reach for you, the alternative is to enlist the help of friends and family – hopefully they have what it takes to haul stuff like furniture around.

Whatever your choices, it is advisable NOT to go it alone.

Exercise Caution

Of course, it would be remiss to talk about moving while pregnant and overlook this point.

We don’t need to harp on about how moving can be tedious and physically sapping. You already know that. But for anyone who wants to take chances, it’s important to reiterate the fact that your body is different during this time.

Heavy lifting is not something you want to be doing. If you must get involved, opt for a task like packing – which should also give you the opportunity to declutter; something you probably need to do before the baby comes.

Don’t Forget Nutrition

During the weeks preceding moving day, it’s easy to get caught up in the errands and forget that you need to be eating and drinking foods that are beneficial for your body, not some quick takeout from down the street.

Take time out to prepare some healthy meals and always have some healthy filling snacks which should provide some much needed energy throughout the day.

Don’t worry, you can always prep some nutritious meals ahead which will only involve defrosting come meal time. This is a tip you can apply during moving day as well.

The last thing you want is to head to the kitchen following a long day of moving.

Through it all, always listen to your body as it will send you signs to let you know if you’re overdoing it.