Rochester NY Personal Trainers Advise on Exercise for Pregnant Women
Being physically active during and after pregnancy aids in the recovery from childbirth, postpartum weight maintenance, prevention of preeclampsia (1), gestational diabetes and severe complications of the musculoskeletal system (2).
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) advises pregnant women to engage in regular, moderate intensity physical activity. That means approximately 30 minutes of moderate exercise such as a daily brisk walk or cycling.
According to study author in Petersen et al, reported in the Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, Terry Leet, Ph.D., women should avoid only activities that may cause abdominal distress. Examples of these are contact sports and scuba diving. However, women should continue to exercise if they exercised prior to pregnancy and women who did not exercise prior to pregnancy should start with moderate, non-weight-bearing activities, such as cycling, brisk walking or swimming.
In a study reported by Borodulin et al. (2008) 71.6% white, 17.3% African American, 11.1% other of 1,482 women, a majority of them reported some physical activity during the second (96.5%) and third (93.9%) trimester. The level of intensity and total volume of exercise decreased between the second and third trimester. The physical activity reported consists of care-related responsibilities, household indoor related and recreational activities.
Sadly, a majority of the women did not reach the activity recommendations set by ACOG. Age, lower-socioeconomic status, and those who smoked were all markers for a passive lifestyle during pregnancy. Pregnant women meeting the moderate to vigorous physical activity recommendations were more likely to be non-Hispanic white, more educated, younger, non-married, non-smokers, and with higher incomes.
Exercise seems to be losing its appeal among the general population. Non-pregnant women who exercised at least three times a week declined to 14% in 2000 from 17% in 1996. Pregnant women who exercised at least three times a week declined from 9% in 1994 to 6% in 2000. Also, women who did not exercise when they were not pregnant were less likely to start exercising regularly when they got pregnant.
What would account for patients remaining inactive during pregnancy and physicians hesitating to urge pregnant patients to exercise? Possibly from a holdover of the paternalistic, archaic way of treating pregnant patients, people still feel that pregnancy is a time for staying off your feet to prevent miscarriages or to alleviate the pains of carrying around added weight.
Fitness professionals, physicians and personal trainers should educate pregnant students and clients of the benefits of remaining physical activity during pregnancy. They should point out to pregnant patients that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has embraced the Center for Disease Control exercise guidelines. This guidelines states that every pregnant woman with uncomplicated pregnancies and who does not have a medical history or a history of obstetric complications should get at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day for most days of the week.
References:
Borodulin, K.M., Evenson, K.R., Wen, F., Herring, A.H., and Benson, A.M. (2008). Physical activity patterns during pregnancy. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 40(11), 1901-1908.
Petersen et al, Correlate of Physical Activity among Pregnant Women in the United States, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise; Nov. 2005; p.1748-1753.
Definition of Preeclampsia and Musculoskeltal complications:
1) Preeclampsia - an aberrant state of pregnancy identified by fluid retention and hypertension.
2) Musculoskeletal complications - pain in the back, pelvis, and failing of the lower extremities.
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