Exercise for you...and your Bump!

Exercise not just for you, but for baby.

So now you’re pregnant, now what? You have your list of doctors, experts and such as well as signed up for every pregnancy and baby listing on the web you can find. Great. But you can’t just focus on you; what about the babe? The moment you conceive, there is a little life (I called mine a piece of rice on the 10 week ultrasound) growing inside you and you are responsible from this day forward. Scary, yes.

We also have to remember that as “responsible” as we are, we don’t have total control of mother nature and how things may turn out. There is always the chance that a pregnancy can end in a spontaneous miscarriage for no other reason but that it just wasn’t meant to be.

For the most part, however, a healthy, viable pregnancy requires the best efforts to ensure the healthiest outcome possible and this is done by just using some good ole common sense i.e. eating well, avoiding alcohol and smoking. These are standard guidelines that should be followed by everyone to avoid some serious complications that could affect a developing fetus.

But what about exercise? We all know the importance of exercise on heart health and immune function (I hope) but what about the effects during pregnancy? Did you know that it’s now considered a risk factor to NOT exercise during this time?

Leading a sedentary lifestyle while “creating” a new life can lead to high blood pressure, gestational diabetes and toxemia to list a few. And babies adapt to the physiological changes that occur in your body during exercise that can mimic labour.

Think of it this way; you AND your baby are preparing for the biggest workout of your life - labour and delivery. Delivering a baby is extremely stressful on your body with the heart rate and blood pressure changes and babies in utero actually get used to this from a regular exercise routine. Speaking as a Mom, there are few things you will experience in your life that can compare to pushing a baby out. And that’s just you. Imagine be squeezed through a tube of toothpaste. It’s hard work for you both. Also, a number of studies have indicated that babies of exercising mothers tend to be more alert, have higher apgar tests and more muscle mass as well.

So keep this in mind the next time you are trying to decide between going for a brisk walk and doing another laundry. Remember, the laundry will never end but you’ve only got one chance at making this the healthiest pregnancy possible!

Samantha Montpetit-Huynh is a mom of two beautiful girls and the owner and founder of Core Expectations, a Toronto-based full service wellness team that delivers personal training, abdominal rehabilitation, nutrition, massage, chiropractic and doula services to pregnant women and new moms across the GTA.