Exercise in Pregnancy
Maintaining a regular exercise routine throughout your pregnancy can help you stay healthy and feel your best.
Exercise pre and post pregnancy
Maintaining a regular exercise routine throughout your pregnancy can help you stay healthy and feel your best. Regular exercise during pregnancy can improve your posture and decrease some common discomforts such as backaches and fatigue. There is evidence that physical activity may prevent gestational diabetes (diabetes that develops during pregnancy), relieve stress, and build more stamina needed for labour and delivery.
If you were physically active before your pregnancy, you should be able to continue your activity in moderation. Don't try to exercise at your former level; instead, do what's most comfortable for you now. Low impact aerobics are encouraged as opposed to high impact. Do not let your heart rate exceed 140 beats per minute. The pregnant competitive athlete should be closely followed by an obstetrician.
If you have never exercised regularly before, you can safely begin an exercise program during pregnancy after consulting with your health care provider, but do not try a new, strenuous activity. Walking is considered safe to initiate when pregnant.
Who Should Not Exercise During Pregnancy?
If you have a problem, such as asthma, heart disease, or diabetes, exercise may not be advisable. Exercise may also be harmful if you have a pregnancy-related condition such as:
• Bleeding or spotting What Exercises Should Be Avoided During Pregnancy?
• Low placenta
• Threatened or recurrent miscarriage
• Previous premature births or history of early labour
• Weak cervix
Talk with your health care provider before beginning an exercise program. Your health care provider can also give you personal exercise guidelines, based on your medical history
What Exercises Are Safe During Pregnancy?
Most exercises are safe to perform during pregnancy, as long as you exercise with caution and do not overdo it.
The safest and most productive activities are swimming, brisk walking, indoor stationary cycling, step or elliptical machines, and low-impact aerobics, Yoga or Pilates (taught by a certified instructors). These activities carry little risk of injury, benefit your entire body, and can be continued until birth. Tennis and racquetball are generally safe activities, but changes in balance and suppleness during pregnancy may affect rapid movements. Other activities such as jogging can be done in moderation, especially if you were doing them before your pregnancy. You may want to choose exercises or activities that do not require great balance or coordination, especially later in pregnancy.
There are certain exercises and activities that can be harmful if performed during pregnancy. They include:
• Holding your breath during any activity.
• Activities where falling is likely (such as skiing and horseback riding).
• Contact sports such as softball, football, basketball, and volleyball.
• Any exercise that may cause even mild abdominal trauma such as activities that include jarring motions or rapid changes in direction.
• Activities that require extensive jumping, hopping, skipping, bouncing, or running.
• Deep knee bends, full sit-ups, double leg raises, and straight-leg toe touches.
• Bouncing while stretching.
• Waist-twisting movements while standing.
• Heavy exercise spurts followed by long periods of no activity.
• Exercise in hot, humid weather
Post Pregnancy
After the birth of your baby you will be given some leaflets from the midwives at the hospital in relation to some post pregnancy exercises. The leaflet is also attached here for your reference click here
In Guernsey there are also now alot of post pregnancy yoga classes which you might want to consider. For more information on this check out our classified and 'what's on' section of the website and see where you can go.
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