Driving while very pregnant?

[sojourn]

Any short ladies have trouble driving toward the end?
I am only 5'3" and I drive a manual transmission car. I already have to sit almost all the way up in order to fully depress the clutch. I checked how far back I could go, and I only have about 4 inches before I'm touching the steering wheel with my belly!!
I have no idea how long it will take to get those four inches, but I think that's going to have to start my maternity leave.
Anyone else perceiving trouble with this task?

 

[Cherry Bow]

I had to stop driving at 37 weeks as my bump was touching the steering wheel and I no longer needed to work. I should of stopped driving sooner but had to continue because of work. I was touching the steering wheel from about 30 weeks. I'm 5ft3 as well xx

 

[snowfia]

I could drive right up until the end last time and will probably be the same this time. My bump's no where near the steering wheel haha.

 

[Amy89]

Omg I hadn't even thought of this! I'm not far off reaching the steering wheel now, and that's with the seat all the way back because my legs are so long that my knees touch the steering wheel too! Bloody hell....

 

[sojourn]

Omg I hadn't even thought of this! I'm not far off reaching the steering wheel now, and that's with the seat all the way back because my legs are so long that my knees touch the steering wheel too! Bloody hell....

Oooh I never thought of it from the opposite perspective. I am almost all the way up and I can reach the pedals, if I go back just a little bit I can't!

My grandma (who is my build) said she had to stop driving at 7 months when she had a manual, but could go 8 with an automatic transmission. I think it really makes a difference, since you have to be able to push the clutch all the way in.

When I talked to my boss last she joked that we would just trade cars, or she would pick me up and drop me off every day. She said she wasn't willing to lose me a minute early! Lol

I think as soon as I can't reach, I probably won't be able to easily chase/herd little people or pick them up when they are sad or hurt or bend over to talk to them at their eye level. That's the point when I'll start leave.

 

[x__amour]

I just realized I didn't drive much when I was pregnant with DD! This time I need to as I'll be working until baby comes so I hope it goes okay, lol.

 

[girlnboots]

It's never a good idea to be sitting that close to the steering wheel, pregnant or not! I know you can't really help it since that's how you and your car are made, but I'd talk to your doctor to verify safety options and all that. Even a small fender bender can dislodge the latch on your seat and propel you forward enough to really hurt you and bub, not to mention the airbag.

Just my pennies worth

 

[sojourn]

It's how me and pretty much all cars are made (or at least how we intereact!!). I used to sell cars and I would always, immediately, pull the seat to the furthest position forward and then gently release it back two clicks. I've never driven a car where I could sit more than a few inches back from the furthest seat position forward.

I'll have to respectfully disagree about it being unsafe to sit this way all of the time. I don't understand what you are saying will become dislodged.

By "latch" do you mean the safety belt, or the metal configuration holding the car seat in place? The factory made seat in any car should never, ever become dislodged. Certainly not in a fender bender! A safety belt is the same way. If it were so easily dislodged it would not serve a purpose. When there have been rare occasions of something like this happening with a safety belt, then the mechanisms are recalled. I have a 5 year old vehicle with no safety recalls and is among the safest vehicles in its class. It is simply impossible that in a fender bender (and EXTREMELY improbable even in a serious crash) that either the seat, or the belt would become dislodged.
I have been in more than one crash where the airbags deployed and never suffered anything more than the airbag burns (which are common in all accidents in which airbags are deployed). Even my brother, who is 6'4" and was in one of those crashes, got the airbag burns. In none of these crashes did either the seats or the seat belts become dislodged.
I expressed my original concerns to my doctor, and they said that as long as the seat belt could sit comfortably across the pelvis (as opposed to the lower abdomen), and that my steering wheel would comfortably accommodate my belly, then I was fine to be driving.

 

[girlnboots]

My best friend was in a fender bender sandwiched between two cars all going less than 30 between two stoplights. Her seat slid forward with impact and her and her passenger's seat both reclined when they slammed backwards. Her car was hardly damaged and drove away from the accident with nothing but a broken taillight. So it does happen.

I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to sit closer than 6 inches from your steering wheel and your elbows should be easily extended at more than 90 degrees so you don't snap your arms in an accident. And in a collision, your steering wheel can definitely be forced into your abdomen, even without airbag deployment.

I didnt comment to start an argument, but I'm not full of shit when I say serious injuries can occur by sitting too close to the steering wheel. Take it or leave it. That's between you, God, and your doctor.

 

[sojourn]

You commented with a critical view and incorrect information that was meant to be alarmist. It was also condescending. I have been driving for more than 10 years. Don't you think I *might* have used my tiny little brain to know how to safely operate a motor vehicle? Do you understand that when you tell a pregnant person that they are doing something unsafe, that you are telling her she is a bad mother? If you are going to do that, get a fact. Don't give me your "pennies worth" or "pretty sure" or "this friend I had one time". Give me research and data and numbers. Otherwise, you can keep your opinion to yourself. Because you're right, it is between me and my doctor and my child. Two of those three, have actual, factual, real information.

Unfortunately, your one friend and their one car (likely with seats that were not original factory seats, or were not latched properly since they did not perform the basic and only safety task that seats are meant to perform) do not actual research make. I have spent a lot of time researching safety statistics of cars and what kind of cars I can safely/comfortably drive. As well as assuaging worried parents that their children could safely ride in/drive cars. All of this is because of research, reading and actual knowledge. Not a random accident that one person had one experience in.

Do a quick google search and you will understand that the ENTIRE purpose of anchored seats and safety belts is to keep you anchored and belted to your seat. If this was as common as you say, then everyone with a fender bender would be have their seat dislodged. I have been in a car the rolled over twice and the seat and seat belts were completely stationary and intact. As far as hitting your abdomen on the steering wheel: well, if you're wearing a seatbelt, that shouldn't happen. Again, the point of seatbelts.
ETA: https://www.med.nyu.edu/content?ChunkIID=14125

You are "pretty sure" that you need to sit more than 6" away from the steering wheel. This information is incorrect. You need to sit as far back from the steering wheel as you are physically able, while still being able to see over the steering wheel and hood, reach all of the instrument panels and easily depress the pedals. For some people that is 10" for some people it is 4". If that were real, then no one who is about 5' tall would be able to drive a car.
ETA: https://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/rulings/airbagqa.html#Q16

I'm aware of how to drive a car. I, and my unborn child, are perfectly safe. So you can go on about your business and save someone else's life by criticizing their parenting.

 

[zorak]

I am overdue and I can still drive, though I choose not to due to restless legs. I think what makes a difference for me is that our seats are very low so it seems to create a lot more space between me and the steering wheel. We also have an automatic though I am pretty sure I could still drive a manual if I really wanted to.

 

[sojourn]

I am overdue and I can still drive, though I choose not to due to restless legs. I think what makes a difference for me is that our seats are very low so it seems to create a lot more space between me and the steering wheel. We also have an automatic though I am pretty sure I could still drive a manual if I really wanted to.

Hopefully that's how it works for me!! My seats sit a little high in the car (which helps me see over the wheel without sitting on a phonebook LOL).

My husband monkeyed around with the steering wheel today and was able to, while out of the car, able to make it go just one tick higher. I hope that will buy me a few more weeks! Although he also teased that even if my legs reached, my baby t-rex arms might not let me reach the steering wheel.

I think I'm with you on the "if I really wanted to" part. Even if I can reach, I don't really know if I will want to. I'm just going to have to wait and see.

 

[luna_19]

The problem I have started having recently is that it is very uncomfortable for me to sit so upright while driving because my belly is pushing up on my chest :/ my current car is an automatic so I can sit way further back than in my old car (I actually would always adjust the seat the same as you, all the way forward then back 2 clicks ) I can imagine not being able to drive that old one for much longer at this stage.

 

[mizza1987]

I'm 5ft 2 and have to recline the seat back slightly so that there's space for bump and that I'm comfortable......I'm 36 weeks now so hoping I still fit for a few more weeks!! X

 

[sojourn]

Do you recline the seat and then sit up, or actually lean your head back on the seat? I might be able to do that with a support pillow or something. I don't think I'd be able to see over the steering wheel/dash with it reclined.

 

[Noo]

I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to sit closer than 6 inches from your steering wheel

In that case I shouldn't drive non-pregnant! I am 5ft 2 and I sit closer than 6 inches to the steering wheel when not pregnant otherwise I can't reach the pedals.

As for the OP - I drive a Mini and I'm currently about 1 inch away from the steering wheel though I've had to change the height of my driving position as well we the position of the steering wheel and click the chair back! I can't move any further back now.

 

[sojourn]

That sounds like a good car for short people!!
Glad the adjustments help you. I was playing around in the car today and realized if I move the lumbar support a bit, then I can lean back and still see over the steering wheel and keep my feet on the pedals. It is NOT comfortable to me at all though. I'm sure I'll get used to it once I have to. In the mean-time, I'm going to continue sitting at my tragically unsafe distance, risking life and limb at every bump and turn.

(IDK if you read the next post after the one you quoted, but there is absolutely no guideline for safe sitting difference. There's a link that explains it.)

 

[Noo]

That sounds like a good car for short people!!

Yes, but not a great car for a pushchair/stroller

 

[sojourn]

That sounds like a good car for short people!!

Yes, but not a great car for a pushchair/stroller

Lol. Definitely not!!!
I drive a Ford Fusion. It is HUGE! So, I have the opposite problem. Perfect for bulky carseats and strollers, no quite as ideal for short ladies with huge bellies.

 

[Noo]

That sounds like a good car for short people!!

Yes, but not a great car for a pushchair/stroller

Lol. Definitely not!!!
I drive a Ford Fusion. It is HUGE! So, I have the opposite problem. Perfect for bulky carseats and strollers, no quite as ideal for short ladies with huge bellies.

My hubby drives a Xsara Picasso. I actually find the driving position more comfortable than my car at this gestations... HOWEVER... I'm used to parking a Mini... I'm just saying!