Fear of Exercising during Pregnancy?

WebMD recently posted an article on the fact that many women fear exercise during pregnancy. The doctor’s found it astonishing that about 50% of women that exercised before pregnancy stopped completely after becoming pregnant.

The reason?

They thought it was going to hurt the baby.

Completely understandable! Women are not educated by their physicians about the most recent research or what the acceptable limits are. So the next resources a women will turn to is her mother and close friends (who probably have kids). These women probably don’t know the research and studies performed and will only offer advice from their personal experiences or own misconceptions.

This section from the WebMD article stood out to me, “Doctors must take part of the blame for women not getting the exercise message, Raul Artal, MD says. ‘Physicians as a whole don’t receive a lot of education about exercise physiology and behavior modification. This includes exercise and diet.’

‘There is still much ignorance about the fact that pregnancy should not be a state of confinement,’ Artal says.

Pregnancy, he says, ‘is a good time to engage in a healthy lifestyle,’ including exercise, with certain exceptions such as scuba diving, which can put the fetus at risk for decompression sickness.

‘For women who have never exercised, walking is a good way to start’ after getting a doctor’s OK, Artal tell WebMD.

Hague says women should focus on the benefits of exercise during pregnancy. ‘We know exercise has significant benefits for women, including reducing their risk of depression and their risk of excess weight gain,’ she says. ‘Minimizing excess weight gain can reduce the risk of C-section.’”

As many pregnancy magazines are touting exercising during pregnancy, I have two concerns:
1- Always check with your doctor to ensure exercise is okay during pregnancy.
2- Consult with a certified personal trainer.

I know there are many pregnancy DVDs out there to watch. Don’t get me wrong, they are excellent. But if you have never exercised like they are in the video, you need a professional correcting your form, making sure you perform each movement correctly to avoid injury. The DVDs do not give feedback and that’s the problem. They also provide a generalized program. A professional would get to know you and create a custom program that personally addresses your strengths and weaknesses.