Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/9hHUCD2zq4k Don’t crowd a pregnant woman woman during her third trimester.  A psychological study, recently published in the journal Scientific Reports, demonstrates that a woman’s personal space expands the closer she comes to giving birth. The study quantitated the radius of the personal space, normally about an arm’s length from our bodies, in groups of women during their second trimesters, third trimesters, and 2 months after delivery.  The control group consisted of non-pregnant women.   The data not only showed a larger space but also a sharper delineation between the woman’s guarded zone and public space. This larger personal space “bubble” seems protective in several ways.  It not only provides a stable, safe space in public, but it also helps a woman with a larger physical profile navigate her environment. Flavia Cardini, Natalie Fatemi-Ghomi, Katarzyna Gajewska-Knapik, Victoria Gooch, Jane Elizabeth Aspell. Enlarged representation of peripersonal space in pregnancy. Scient