Exercise and pregnancy

Regular exercise during pregnancy benefits you and your fetus in these key ways:

• Eases constipation
• Helps you to lose the baby weight after your baby is born
• Improves your overall general fitness and strengthens your heart and blood vessels
• May decrease your risk of gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and cesarean delivery
• Promotes healthy weight gain during pregnancy
• Reduces back pain

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that pregnant women get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week. An aerobic activity is one in which you move large muscles of the body (like those in the legs and arms) in a rhythmic way. Moderate intensity means you are moving enough to raise your heart rate and start sweating. You still can talk normally, but you cannot sing.

Examples of moderate-intensity aerobic activity include brisk walking and general gardening (raking, weeding, or digging). You can divide the 150 minutes into 30-minute workouts on five days of the week or into smaller 10-minute workouts throughout each day.

If you are new to exercise, start out slowly and gradually increase your activity. Begin with as little as five minutes a day. Add five minutes each week until you can stay active for 30 minutes a day.

If you were very active before pregnancy, you can keep doing the same workouts with your health care professional’s approval. However, if you start to lose weight, you may need to increase the number of calories that you eat.

Your body goes through many changes during pregnancy. It is important to choose exercises that take these changes into account:

• Balance — During pregnancy, the extra weight in the front of your body shifts your center of gravity. This places stress on joints and muscles, especially those in your pelvis and low back. Because you are less stable and more likely to lose your balance, you are at greater risk of falling.
• Breathing — When you exercise, oxygen and blood flow are directed to your muscles and away from other areas of your body. While you are pregnant, your need for oxygen increases. As your belly grows, you may become short of breath more easily because of increased pressure of the uterus on the diaphragm (a muscle that aids in breathing). These changes may affect your ability to do strenuous exercise, especially if you are overweight or obese.
• Joints — The hormones made during pregnancy cause the ligaments that support your joints to become relaxed. This makes the joints more mobile and at risk of injury. Avoid jerky, bouncy, or high-impact motions that can increase your risk of being hurt.

There are a few precautions that pregnant women should keep in mind during exercise:

• Modified yoga and Pilates — Yoga reduces stress, improves flexibility, and encourages stretching and focused breathing. There are even prenatal yoga and Pilates classes designed for pregnant women. These classes often teach modified poses that accommodate a pregnant woman’s shifting balance. You also should avoid poses that require you to be still or lie on your back for long periods.

If you are an experienced runner, jogger, or racquet-sports player, you may be able to keep doing these activities during pregnancy. Discuss these activities with your health care professional.

While pregnant, avoid activities that put you at increased risk of injury, such as the following:

• Activities performed above 6,000 feet (if you do not already live at a high altitude)
• Activities that may result in a fall, such as downhill snow skiing, water skiing, surfing, off-road cycling, gymnastics, and horseback riding
• Contact sports and sports that put you at risk of getting hit in the abdomen, including ice hockey, boxing, soccer, and basketball
• “Hot yoga” or “hot Pilates,” which may cause you to become overheated
• Scuba diving
• Skydiving

Stop exercising and call your obstetrician or other member of your health care team if you have any of these signs or symptoms:

• Bleeding from the vagina
• Calf pain or swelling
• Chest pain
• Feeling dizzy or faint
• Fluid leaking from the vagina
• Headache
• Muscle weakness
• Regular, painful contractions of the uterus
• Shortness of breath before starting exercise