Is it mandatory for a five months pregnant woman with a soft cervix to take bed rest?

Hello,

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It is more than five months of gestation. According to your history, you had a short and soft cervix and were advised restricted activity and bed rest due to the risk of preterm labor. You have not mentioned your previous obstetrics, gynecology, drug, or medical history. All of them are important to understand and describe your situation in detail. Did you have previous preterm labor or any infection in the previous pregnancy? Kindly provide your recent scan, and that could be helpful. Are you on Duphaston (progestin), or have you been on Duphaston? It helps to prevent threatened miscarriage or early preterm labor. I suggest you still have restricted movements and rest. At 32 weeks, you should have Dexamethasone (Dexamethasone phosphate) injections for the baby's lung maturity, as it is necessary in case of preterm labor. To prevent preterm labor patients might sometimes need intravenous injections to stop preterm labor. In the meantime, these Dexamethasone injections of two episodes are given for better preterm outcomes of a preterm baby. The newborn baby needs neonatal ICU bed arrangements in advance and might need resuscitation in case of very early preterm delivery. I suggest you take Duphaston support of 10 mg daily, 12 hourly till 32 weeks. Consult your specialist doctor, discuss with them and take medications with their consent. Have an injection of Dexamethasone in two doses with an interval of 12 hours in case of feeling cervical changes before 32 weeks or if there are no changes at 32 weeks. Neonatal ICU (intensive care unit) bed arrangements for any time in an emergency should be there before 36 weeks of gestation. Cervical changes could be painless or pain full. Better to have rest and restricted activities as the risk of preterm labor is there. In case of any rupture of membranes, preterm labor pains, or cervical changes, immediately rush to the hospital. Recurrent vaginal examination, even in the absence of rupture of membranes, is not allowed as it can cause preterm labor or cervical change. In case of rupture, membranes can cause an infection that is also a risk to initiate cervical changes that leads to preterm labor. It would be clearer if you provided a detailed history and ultrasound report.

Thank you.