Exercise For Pregnant Women

Staying healthy during pregnancy is the desire of every woman who is pregnant. Besides food, exercise is one way to obtain such a healthy state. Unfortunately there are still many pregnant women are afraid to exercise. They worry that sports can cause interference with the pregnancy.

In general, exercise is safe during pregnancy. Some sports are encouraged or allowed during pregnancy that is aerobic, streets, swimming, water gymnastics, dancing, riding a stationary bike, and yoga. Every pregnant woman has different characteristics so that different sports are chosen to be tailored to the circumstances of the pregnant mother. When the difficulty determining a suitable exercise, never be afraid to ask the obstetrician in order to obtain information about the sport in accordance with the conditions at the time of pregnancy.

Here are some things to consider when exercising during pregnancy:

A history of bad pregnancy: What is meant by adverse pregnancy history is a history of previous pregnancies that have problems like miscarriage, bleeding during pregnancy, death of a child in the womb and others. It should be noted that this situation does not prevent 100 percent of pregnant women to exercise, but the choice of exercise should be more selective and careful. Besides the supervision of the obstetrician takes a more stringent to prevent undesirable.

Heartbeat: Pregnant woman’s heart rate during exercise is recommended to not exceed 140 beats per minute. Unfortunately, this recommendation is still a matter of debate because so little evidence to support. Some studies show an increase in heart rate to 70% of normal will not disturb or affect the baby’s heartbeat in the womb. The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology and Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada recommends the following: For pregnant women aged less than 20 years, maximum heart rate between 140-155. For pregnant mother, aged between 20-29 years old, maximum heart rate is 135-150 whereas for pregnant women aged 30-39 years maximum heart rate 130-145. Lastly for pregnant women over the age of 40 years then the maximum heart rate during exercise is 125-140.

Sports by lying: Pressure due to weight of a pregnant belly can disrupt blood flow to the foetus, especially in the first trimester. The decrease in cardiac output could reach 9% so that pregnant women are not encouraged to do exercise while lying on the floor, especially in the first trimester.

Hydration: It is important to maintain fluid balance during exercise. Drink 800 cc of water 20-30 minutes before exercise drink 800 cc and again during exercise.

Balance: Changes in the centre of gravity on the body of the pregnant woman as a result of changes in body shape can cause balance problems. This causes a pregnant woman becomes easier to fall mainly on the sports that require rapid changes in body position such as racket sports, skating, and gymnastics gymnastics. Sports like these are best avoided.

Physical contact sports: Sports like field hockey, boxing, soccer, martial arts who are at risk of physical contact is better avoided.

Heat: Muscles produce heat during exercise that will increase body temperature. Excessive increase in body temperature that can interfere with the foetus, especially in the first trimester. Although the body of a pregnant woman already has a mechanism for maintaining body temperature is always in normal circumstances, but this would not be useful if the body is forced to exercise under hot and humid environments. The American Academy of Family Physicians recommends (1) body exercise in the morning or late afternoon to prevent the body from overheating and (2) make sure the rooms used for exercise to have adequate ventilation so that air is in the room is not too hot.

The conclusion of our conversation this time the exercise is a safe activity during pregnancy during the exercise carried out according to the conditions of pregnancy and notice several things as mentioned above. Some beneficial effects when pregnant women are diligent exercise among other things, shorten delivery time, reduce the risk for caesarean operation, reducing discomfort during childbirth, and the energy needed during laboratory becomes less.

Remember to always consult your obstetrician before exercise because the discussion I have described here is very common while the condition of pregnant women is very individual.

Greetings sports.