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All the right moves

Five essential exercises for pregnancy

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Originally published in Today's Parent January 2006

Motherhood is a marathon that begins putting a woman’s body through its paces long before a baby arrives and continues well beyond birth. With that in mind, we’ve put together five exercises to help you shoulder the physical challenges of pregnancy and the first few years thereafter.

Exercise Caution
Before you lace up your athletic shoes, let’s go over a few key points about prenatal exercise. Many experts agree that not only is physical activity safe for women with low-risk pregnancies, it may actually lower the odds of certain complications, control or even prevent conditions like gestational diabetes, ward off muscle aches and pains, and reduce interventions during labour. (Contraindications to exercise include persistent bleeding in the second or third trimester, incompetent cervix, and pregnancy-induced high blood pressure.)

Check with your doctor or midwife before beginning an exercise program, especially if you have never exercised before — some care providers may advise newcomers to aerobic exercise to wait until the second trimester to begin. Other recommended precautions: avoid overheating and dehydration, breathe normally (no holding your breath), and steer clear of exercises that involve lying on your back after the fourth month. (By then, the weight of the uterus can compress the large artery that supplies oxygen to the baby — not to mention mom’s brain!)

With that out of the way, here’s the what, why and how of five essential exercises for expectant moms.

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