What if someone told you that with one solution, you could reduce your time spent during pregnancy and labor, reduce the pain and interventions experienced during labor, gain less weight, and prevent conditions like gestational diabetes and preeclampsia? It sounds far too good to be true, but it’s not. Regular fitness during pregnancy has the potential to achieve these results in many normal cases.
Of course, there are many positive cofactors associated with exercise that make this even more attainable -- namely healthy nutrition and stress management. But the physiological impact of regular fitness on your pregnant body is actually astounding. Check out this article for more on why pregnancy is an ideal time in a woman’s life to exercise, and read on for a closer look at the impact of exercise on a pregnant mother.
1. Less Time Spent in Pregnancy
You may know that exercise has been found to decrease the risk of preterm labor, but did you know that it also could increase your likelihood of delivering full-term and on time versus late. Dr. James F. Clapp III is internationally recognized for studying the impact of exercise on pregnant mothers beginning in the 1980s, and he found that those women who sustained regular exercise until the onset of labor were more likely to deliver five to seven days sooner than a woman with an active lifestyle but who did not exercise regularly. An important distinction, however, is that women must continue to exercise to full term to achieve this benefit.
2. Less Time Spent in Labor
The strength and endurance women gain through regular exercise also can lead them to hold their babies sooner after labor begins. In studies, women who exercised reported a 75% decrease in exhaustion during labor and ultimately reduced their labor by a third!
3. Reduced Likelihood of Excessive Birth Weight in Babies
Several long-term studies have demonstrated that exercise during pregnancy is correlated with babies being born at an appropriate weight. And a normal infant birth weight reduces the child’s risk for chronic disease later in life, including cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes.
4. Fewer Pregnancy Discomforts
It’s not hard to imagine that exercise can alleviate aches and pains during pregnancy, as it can when we’re not pregnant. It also can help stabilize the hormonal ups and downs of pregnancy, decreasing feelings of discomfort and weakness, lack of stamina and depression.
5. Less Weight Gain
This may seem obvious, but data from Clapp’s studies make it tangible. Pregnant mothers who exercised regularly gained an average of seven fewer pounds and three percent less body fat than those who did not exercise during pregnancy.
6. Reduced Likelihood of Preeclampsia and Gestational Diabetes
The connection between physical activity and reduced risk of these conditions has been widely studied, confirming that more consistent exercise protects against these conditions in pregnant women.
7. Decreased Need for Pain Relief
Like exercise, labor releases catecholamines, which are hormones including epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine (noradrenaline) and dopamine produced in your adrenal glands. Physical activity has been shown to train people’s capacity to secrete adrenaline, which can benefit a mother in labor as well.
Exercise also strengthens the pituitary-hypothalamus gland connection affecting endorphin and oxytocin production. Endorphins allow us to push through pain more easily and for longer, while oxytocin, one of the most helpful hormones during birth, stimulates contractions and the thinning and expansion of your cervix.
8. Decreased Risk of Medical Intervention
Perhaps the most remarkable correlation between exercise and birth outcomes is the reduction in non-surgical and surgical interventions. Exercise during pregnancy is associated with:
A 50 percent decrease in the need to artificially rupture the fetal membranes
A 50 percent decrease in the need to induce labor
A 50 percent decrease in the need to intervene due to abnormal fetal heart rate
A 55 percent decrease in the need for episiotomy
A 75 percent decrease in the need for forceps or C-section
The story doesn’t end here. Here you can learn how physical activity also benefits your child in utero.
If you’re someone who’s never been one to exercise frequently, know that even just some regular movement can produce positive benefits for you and your baby. Talk to your doctor about what’s right for you, and consider partnering with a prenatal exercise specialist to safely guide you through activities that are tailored to your transforming body.
References
Goodlatte J, Fit for Birth Pre and Post Natal Corrective Exercise Specialist Manual, 2017.
Clapp JF, Cramm C, Exercising Through Your Pregnancy, 2012 Jul
Vargas-Terrones M, Nagpal TS, Barakata R, Impact of exercise during pregnancy on gestational weight gain and birth weight: an overview. Braz J Phys Ther. 2019 Mar-Apr; 23(2): 164–169.
Varney H, Varney’s Midwifery Sixth Edition, 2019
Spracklen CN, Ryckman, KK, Triche EW, Saftlas AF, Physical Activity during Pregnancy and Subsequent Risk of Preeclampsia and Gestational Hypertension: a Case Control Study, Matern Child Health J. 2016 Jun; 20(6): 1193–1202.
Mottola MF, Curr Diab Rep. 2008 Aug; 8(4):299-304.
Zouhal H, Jacob C, Delamarche P, Gratas-Delamarche A, Catecholamines and the Effects of Exercise, Training and Gender Sports Medicine. 2018 May 38(5):401-23
Jong TR, Menon R, Bludau A, Grund T, Biermeier V, Klampfl SM, Jurek B, Bosch OJ, Hellhammer J, Neumann ID, Salivary oxytocin concentrations in response to running, sexual self-stimulation, breastfeeding and the TSST: The Regensburg Oxytocin Challenge (ROC) study. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2015 Dec; 62():381-8.
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