Bed rest is not a mini holiday!

As many as one in five pregnancies is subject to some form of bed rest and while there are many different reasons for a pregnant woman to be confined to bed, almost all will admit that it's a difficult time.

Erica Jackson shares her experience of bed rest, what drove her mad and how she got through it all.

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How long were you on bed rest?
For the last five weeks of my pregnancy. I was put on bed rest to prevent my membranes rupturing prematurely.

How did you feel about it?
From the moment the magic words 'bed rest' were spoken, my life ground to a halt - and the longest 5 weeks of my life began. My first - slightly irrational - thought was 'Who will keep the house tidy?'

My husband does his share but his ability to see the edges is strangely absent (he hoovers the middle of the carpet, or wipes down the centre of the units). This initial thought was only fleeting but throughout my time on bed rest, came to represent everything bad about being housebound and practically immobile.

What about your husband?
I sometimes wonder if Gary had it tougher than me. Every time I got fed up - which was often - I'd see dust around the edges of the TV, or a tissue that had fallen beneath a table, or anything else that was out of place, and end up yelling at my poor husband who was doing his best trying to keep me happy, the house tidy and still work full time.

I knew I was being irrational. I'd wait all day for him to come home and then spend the evening moaning at him, then crying, and then apologising.

I look back now and think I must have the best husband in the world to have put up with me.

Where did you spend your bed rest?
I was put on 'modified bed rest' which meant I could get up on occasion, such as going to the bathroom.

We decided to set up Bed Rest HQ in the living room. Gary propped me up on the sofa surrounded with lots of pillows - including the obligatory V-shaped one - and everything I could possibly need within easy reach. By the end of the first day I was quite enjoying the complete rest and escape from the rat race.

So it wasn't as bad as you thought then?
The first day wasn't! The next day wasn't too bad either - until I realised that I only had myself, the TV and some weekly magazines for company.

This was my first baby, and I was the first - and only - pregnant member in our circle of friends which meant that just because I wasn't at work, didn't mean all my friends had the same 'luxury'.

By the end of my first week on bed rest I knew every number for every channel on Sky and had become so intimate with the remote control that I could flick between channels and change the volume, contrast and colour without even looking at it.

Even in my sleep (which I prayed for as my only release from the boredom) I dreamed of Phillip Schofield!

What annoyed you the most?
Very early on I learnt that absolutely everybody has an opinion on bed rest. During my 5 weeks, my mother repeatedly told me to enjoy the rest, because I wouldn't be getting much once the baby arrived.

Friends would groan about shopping (I was pregnant over Christmas) and workmates wished they could swap places with me as they moaned about one colleague or another. And when everyone had finished telling me how lucky I was, they would go off to their work party, or out for a meal, or to the cinema and I'd still be stuck in the same place, watching the same programs and reading the same magazines.

No one realises that bed rest is a really lonely place, unless they've been there

What was your one lifesaver?
A laptop! By the end of the second week, I was beginning to question if the doctors really did know best.

I was convinced that extreme boredom had to be bad for the baby and was practically on the verge of defying them when my husband arrived carrying a laptop, loaned to him by the wife of a colleague who thought I could use it.

All of a sudden I had something other than Phil and Fern to focus on. I was a computer novice at the time but I quickly became an expert surfing the web. I joined parenting communities, read everything I could about bed rest, planned for the birth and even did all my Christmas shopping online!

What advice would you give other women in the same situation?
There's nothing 'fun' about bed rest (despite what some books would have you believe.) It's just something that some women have to go through. The best bit of advice I'd give to anyone on bed rest is to remember there is an end to it and that end is your baby born healthy.

I think for all women, the last few weeks of pregnancy can drag. If you're on bed rest it can seem like it's never going to end but it does.

My son, Jacob, is one now and if I had to I'd gladly do it all again for him

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Where to next?

• Your colourful pregnancy - is it safe to use hair dye during pregnancy?
• Antenatal testing - one mother's story.
• Read our article on postnatal depression