Safely Exercising in Pregnancy and Postpartum and the Importance of Exercise for you and your Baby
Exercising and physical activity is a concept we all know we need to do for our health and wellbeing on a regular basis. However when it comes to pregnancy and in the postpartum period, the views around exercise are often debated and people can become unsure and overwhelmed by what they can and can’t do.
In the not so distant past, exercise was considered dangerous and unsafe to do during pregnancy and people were told to rest and take it easy during pregnancy. You may have heard this advice from your grandmother’s era and prior.
In the 21st century though, we now have strong research to suggest otherwise, and that exercise is actually of significant importance during your pregnancy and into the postpartum period. There is research to suggest that not only is exercise good for you as the Mum, it can be beneficial for your baby also (2).
In the postpartum period exercise is an important aspect of regaining your whole body strength and the endurance you may have lost during the pregnancy, as well as specifically improving your core and pelvic floor regions which may have been impacted during the pregnancy or birth. Furthermore, if you wish to have future children, it’s important to regain your body’s baseline strength and conditioning to tolerate another pregnancy.
Exercise on the whole is often used by physiotherapists to treat certain issues during pregnancy and postpartum such as back and pelvic pain, preparing the body for labour, and helping maintain physical health with conditions such as gestational diabetes (1).
Okay, so we now know it is safe to exercise, but WHAT am I allowed to do?
From a basic perspective and according to the American Physical Activity Guidelines, pregnant women are encouraged to exercise for 30 minutes a day, or for 150 minutes a week, on 5 or more days a week at moderate intensity (3). So to make that easier to do, just try and move your body in some way every day for around 20-30 minutes with a little bit of puffing but not working overly hard.
After around 20 weeks into your pregnancy we encourage you to avoid high impact exercise to prevent excessive force and pressure on your pelvic floor as your baby grows. After this stage of your pregnancy your hormone fluctuations can cause your joints to have more laxity.
Therefore higher intensity and impact type sports such as basketball, skiing or netball lead you to be at a higher risk of injury. We also do not recommend bike riding outside on a normal bike or horse riding in the second trimester due to the risk of your baby being injured if you fall off.
It’s also important to consider your body temperature when exercising as you are more likely to heat up quickly when pregnant. So on hot days exercise indoors, or near air conditioning to prevent overheating.
Exercises to Avoid:
Running, jogging, jumping, high impact after 20 weeks.
Contact sports (netball, basketball, skiing, horse riding) after 20 weeks.
Any exercise or weights work that causes strong pelvic pain, bleeding or causes pelvic floor symptoms such as urinary leakage, heaviness, urinary urgency. You may just need to modify it!
Exercises you can do:
Walking
Hiking
Swimming
Yoga/Pilates
Gym weights (modify the load and intensity)
Low impact gym classes that will modify for you
Stationary bike
Cross-trainer
Stepper machine
Low impact home exercises i.e squats, lunges etc
Precautions to exercising medically:
If you have any of the symptoms below or any medical conditions, please consult your medical practitioner managing your pregnancy first for clearance to exercise. You may also book a physiotherapy appointment to determine the safest method of exercising for you.
Placenta Praevia
Incompetent cervix
Pre-eclampsia
Ruptured membranes
Persistent bleeding into second/third trimesters
Unstable gestational diabetes
I hope this helps clarify any concerns on your ability to safely exercise. If you are concerned in general, or are getting pelvic floor symptoms, or want advice on modifications, or need help to keep exercising with pelvic pain/instability then please book a physiotherapy appointment.
We want to help you keep exercising, not stop you!
References
Exercise Guidelines for gestational diabetes mellitus - World Journal of Diabetes - 2015 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4515443/
What effect does an exercise program for healthy pregnant women have on mother, fetus and child? - PM&R Journal - 2009 - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1016/j.pmrj.2008.12.006
Physical activity during pregnancy: a systematic review for the assessment of current evidence with future recommendations - BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation - 2022 -https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35842718/