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Why exercise is encouraged by health professionals

Regular exercise helps to get your body physically ready for labour and the demands of a new baby. Apart from feeling less fatigue, some other benefits of exercise include:

• Having stronger back muscles and improved posture – both invaluable assets for helping you prevent back pain and strain as your bump gets bigger.
• Gaining less body fat overall – you’ll find recovering from labour and returning to your pre-pregnancy weight and fitness level happens faster.
• Helping with sleep and insomnia – both of which are common during pregnancy.

What kind of exercise is recommended?

It’s very important for pregnant women to do pelvic floor exercises throughout pregnancy and after the birth of the baby to prevent incontinence.

How to do pelvic floor exercises

• Imagine you are trying to withhold a stream of urine.
• Tighten your front passage as if you were trying to prevent leaking.
• Stay like this for a count of four.
• Keep breathing.
• Relax slowly.
• Repeat.

Prior to taking up any kind of physical activity, it is vital that you consult your doctor or physiotherapist to ensure it’s safe for both yourself and your unborn baby. Certain conditions, such as a multiple pregnancy, heart disease, high blood pressure, an increased risk of premature labour or pre-eclampsia, could restrict the physical activity you can do.

However, if you already enjoy an exercise routine – keep it up! But do adjust it to suit each stage of your pregnancy. Try to take it more gently and partake in less physically demanding types of exercises.

If you haven’t been particularly active prior to conceiving, now is the time to find an appropriate fitness regime to suit you. Most mums-to-be find that by the second trimester they are feeling less tired and find they have much more energy.

Health professionals recommend:

• Swimming.
• Walking.
• Tai chi.
• Yoga classes.

These exercises should be given by instructors trained in ante-natal exercise. Of course, if you prefer to exercise in the privacy and comfort of your home, you’ll find there’s a wide variety of exercise DVDs and videos created specifically for pregnant women.

You can also download our PDF for tips on exercising safely »