For pregnant mothers, protecting their babies is a top priority, and they have also been upgraded to become key protection targets.
So whenever I hear the word [sports], my heart is also full of 10,000 entanglements:
Every day at home is to eat, don’t exercise, and it is too easy to gain weight.
Although exercise can maintain body shape, the older generation all say that exercise can easily lead to abortion.
It is normal to struggle, after all, there are still many things to consider whether one can exercise or not.
Can pregnant women exercise?
For the vast majority of pregnant mothers, they can exercise normally.
As for many people who worry that the first three months of sports will not cause abortion, the second three months of sports will not cause premature delivery, will cause slow growth and development of the fetus, will the baby’s birth weight be too low, and even the sports will not cause stillbirth and stillbirth…
There is already clear evidence that as long as the pregnant mother is healthy, there is no need to worry about it!
However, according to a 2009 committee opinion of the American Academy of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG), absolute and relative contraindications of exercise during pregnancy are listed. For safety reasons, pregnant women should restrict exercise under the following circumstances:
Pregnant women with basic diseases include heart disease, restrictive lung disease, hypertensive disorder complicating pregnancy, type 1 diabetes that cannot be controlled ideally, epilepsy that cannot be controlled ideally, hyperthyroidism that cannot be controlled ideally.
Pregnant women in poor physical condition include: severe smoking, severe anemia, physical deformity that limits exercise and is too thin, i.e. Body mass index (BMI) < 12, for example, people who are 1.6 meters tall only have 30kg.
Pregnant women with abnormal conditions during pregnancy include cervical insufficiency, multiple pregnancies, vaginal bleeding during the second and second trimester, placenta previa, history of previous premature delivery, premature rupture of membranes, and history of fetal intrauterine growth restriction in the past.
However, limiting exercise ≠ staying in bed. It is still possible to wipe the table and wash dishes at home occasionally and complete normal daily activities.
What are the benefits of exercise during pregnancy?
Since we have ruled out the possible effects of exercise, of course we should pay more attention to the various benefits of exercise during pregnancy.
STEP 1 Keep fit
Although it is still controversial whether exercise during pregnancy can promote the growth of babies, like exercise during non-pregnancy, it can help pregnant mothers to enhance their physical strength and health.
Step 2: Improve constipation
Due to the hormone effect during pregnancy and the enlargement of uterus, which hinders intestinal movement, about one-third of pregnant women will suffer from constipation to varying degrees.
However, as long as you eat more dietary fiber and exercise appropriately, constipation can be easily prevented or treated.
Step 3 Prevent thrombosis
Blood during pregnancy is in a hypercoagulable state. Long-term bed rest is easy to form deep venous thrombosis of lower limbs, and even pulmonary embolism endangers the life of pregnant women. Therefore, do not lie down if you can stand.
Moderate exercise is conducive to promoting blood circulation and reducing the risk of thrombosis.
Step 4: Control Diabetes Mellitus
For pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus, exercise during pregnancy is a recommended treatment.
Therefore, for healthy pregnant women, not only does not restrict exercise, but also moderate exercise is recommended.
Exercise during pregnancy, which situations should be paid attention to?
Everything from 0 to 1 requires a gradual process, including movement.
For example, a person who does not exercise at all to start exercising also needs a process of adaptation, so pregnancy should be more careful.
In case of any of the following situations during pregnancy, the exercise should be suspended immediately and the patient should go to the hospital:
Any physical discomfort, such as dizziness, headache, dyspnea, chest pain, myasthenia, calf edema or pain.
Abnormal pregnancy conditions, such as premature delivery, reduced fetal movement, premature rupture of membranes and vaginal bleeding.
If there is no abnormal situation, you can still exercise according to your own rhythm.
Which sports are better?
Exercise during pregnancy refers to purposeful, specially taking time to do exercise, which is different from daily activities such as housework. If a pregnant mother is engaged in heavy physical labor, she can actually not deliberately do exercise.
There are many sports that pregnant mothers can choose from, such as
- A gentle walk or staircase; For those who are slightly more intense, you can try swimming, but you should avoid people to avoid being hit. You can also jog, jump pedal exercises, etc.
What matters is not what kind of sport you do, but persistence.
ACOG’s recommendation is not less than 30 minutes a day and seven days a week. If you really can’t stick to it, you should also stick to it for at least 20 minutes a day and at least 3-5 days a week.
However, as a pregnant mother, she can’t scamper like ordinary people. The key point is to pay attention to the risks of falling and hitting her abdomen. For example, sports such as basketball, ice hockey, gymnastics, horse riding and skiing should wait until these 10 months have passed.
In addition, like diving, although pregnant women are not easily injured, they will affect the fetal pulmonary circulation and should also be avoided.
In addition, because it is easy to cause venous reflux obstruction when lying flat, the movement should reduce the posture of lying flat as much as possible. In addition, standing still for a long time will affect the cardiac output, and this posture should also be avoided as much as possible.
Finally, I would like to remind you that studies have shown that pregnant women who exercise more vigorously have an increased risk of catching a cold, which is also something expectant mothers who plan to exercise should pay attention to.
In short, we must change the old concept of “pregnancy cannot move” and choose a safe and scientific way of exercise during pregnancy.