By Alison Kodjak

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And the family became isolated, says her husband.

“It felt kind of like ‘knocked out of society’ for a while,” Alex Siebers says. “Our daily routine, our lives and our connections with people — we lost touch. Because we were, you know, trapped in here just trying to make it.”

Kelly Jones, an economics professor at American University in Washington, D.C., and a senior research economist at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, says prescribing bed rest diminishes the role of women in society.

“If you’re telling a woman to undertake an activity that you’re not certain is going to be benefiting her, and yet it’s keeping her away from her job, what you’re saying to her is ‘Your participation in the economy is not important,’ ” Jones says.

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