RECOMMENDATIONS ON EXERCISE DURING PREGNANCY
1. All women without contraindications should be physically active throughout pregnancy.
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- Exercise is thought to reduce the odds of gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, gestational hypertension, prenatal depression and macrosomia WITHOUT increasing the odds of adverse outcomes including preterm birth, low birth weight, miscarriage and perinatal mortality.
- This recommendation includes women who were previously inactive.
- There are also benefits for those who are overweight and have gestational diabetes.
2. Pregnant women should accumulate 150min of moderate intensity exercise each week to achieve clinically meaningful reductions in pregnancy complications.
3. Physical activity should be accumulated over a minimum of 3days per week, however, being active every day is encouraged
4. Pregnant women should incorporate a variety of aerobic exercise and resistance training activities to achieve greater benefits. Adding yoga and/or gentle stretching may be beneficial.
5. Pelvic Floor muscle training may be beneficial and may reduce the odds of urinary incontinence.
6. Pregnant women who experience light headedness, nausea, or feel unwell when lying flat should modify their exercise position to avoid being supine.
SO WHAT SHOULD I DO?
While physical activity is encouraged during pregnancy, the type of exercise is dependent on what type of exercising the woman was completing prior to becoming pregnant.
For those who were inactive prior to pregnancy:
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- Low intensity exercise (such as walking and swimming) is recommended.
- You should start with short durations (15minutes) and build to 30minutes per day, most days of the week (150minutes per week total).
- Any initiation of activity should be done in consultation with a health care professional.
For those who participated in regular exercise prior to pregnancy:
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- If you are experiencing an uncomplicated pregnancy, activity can be continued until it becomes uncomfortable.
- Aerobic activity for 150-300minutes over a week of moderate intensity (somewhat hard, can talk but not sing) exercise (ie. brisk walk/run/jog, cycling, swimming etc). If the intensity increases, the duration should half ie. 75minutes of vigorous exercise equates to 150minutes of moderate intensity exercise.
- Strengthening exercise should be submaximal, using body weight, light weights or resistance bands.
Pelvic floor strengthening is also encouraged during pregnancy. There is some evidence to show that women who complete regular, supervised pelvic floor exercises during pregnancy may have reduced risk of urinary incontinence postpartum. It is important to make sure you are doing these exercises correctly, as it is thought about 50% of women who learn how to activate their pelvic floor from a pamphlet or website are doing them wrong. If you aren’t sure if you are doing these correctly, book an appointment to check with your Physiotherapist.
ACTIVITIES/ EXERCISES THAT ARE CONSIDERED UNSAFE INCLUDE:
- Those with abdominal trauma or pressure (eg. Weight lifting)
- Contact or collision sports (eg. Soccer)
- Sports with hard, projectile or striking components (eg. Hockey, cricket)
- Falling (eg. Skiing)
- Those that require extreme balance, coordination and agility (eg. Gymnastics)
- Heavy lifting (greater than submaximal)
- High intensity training at altitude greater than 2000m
- Those lying on your back (including some yoga positions) especially in later stages of pregnancy
- Those done at high temperatures (eg. Bikram Yoga)
IN SUMMARY
With the correct guidance and in the right environment, exercise during pregnancy is safe and encouraged. Regardless of your previous amount of activity, discussions regarding exercise during pregnancy should always occur with your primary carer (ie. Obstetrician, Midwife, GP or Physio).
