If I was selling a herbal tonic that would help you
• Sleep better
• Feel less exhausted
• Increase your energy levels and general sense of well being and self image.
• Give you a more rapid physical and emotional recovery after birth
• Decrease the likelihood of varicous veins, hemoroids, gestational diabetes and improves the growth and functional capacity of the placenta to name but a few
Would you buy it?
Exercising through pregnancy helps with all these things and many more.
You need to think about training through pregnancy as training for birth and the intense demands of new motherhood.
If you were competing in a half marathon would you train for it ?
Something to think about…..
• A half marathon might take around 2 1/2 hours.
• Childbirth, on average, takes 14 hours.
Studies have shown that the length of labour for women who exercise during pregnancy can be more than 1/3 shorter than non exercising women with a decreased need for pain relief.
Exercising through pregnancy can help your baby better deal with the stress of labour due to the intermittent reductions in oxygen and blood flow that occur during exercise and again in child birth.The familiarity with the reductions in oxygen and blood supply has a direct flow on effect with the stress levels of the baby during delivery.
One area I feel very strongly about is the moderating influence exercise during pregnancy has on depression, both during pregnancy and postpartum.
Studies show a link between body image satisfaction, late pregnancy depression or postpartum depression and exercise.
With exercise not only having a positive effect on the symptoms but can in fact help decrease the risk of being effected.
