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Exercise can be incorporated into a pregnant woman's lifestyle with no risk to herself or the unborn child. This is the case for a healthy woman with an uncomplicated pregnancy.
Your Doctor will fill out the PARmed-X for pregnancy to determine if a prenatal fitness program will be appropriate for you. It will also be used to monitor you throughout your pregnancy, while you are exercising. Your physiotherapist or qualified fitness instructor will need a copy of the PARmed-X to develop your exercise program.
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Some Guidelines for Exercising during Pregnancy
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- Do not begin an exercise program in the first trimester if you have not been exercising regularly prior to becoming pregnant. The exercise program can begin in the second trimester.
- Past 4 months of gestation, avoid lying flat on your back. You may place a pillow under your right hip or lie on your side. Lying on your back allows the weight of the baby to exert pressure on a major vein going to the heart.
- Do not over-stretch because your joints are more susceptible to injury during pregnancy due to increased levels of the hormone relaxin.
- Avoid exercising in the heat or dehydrating yourself.
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Recommended activities are walking, cycling, swimming, elliptical training, resistance training with weights, stabilization exercises, physio-ball exercises, and mat exercises. Jogging can even be commenced with a walk-run program.
Contact your local Running Room or visit them at their website www.runningroom.com and ask them about their booklet titled "The Fit Mom".
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Musculoskeletal Pains
With pregnancy, a hormone called relaxin is released into your bloodstream. By the 14th week of gestation, it is ten times higher than normal. This hormone causes your ligaments to relax and therefore, your joints are not as stable during pregnancy. (The good thing about this hormone is that it allows the pelvis to expand during childbirth). The increase in relaxin, compounded with the extra weight associated with pregnancy, produces much more stress on your joints.
The most common musculoskeletal complaints during pregnancy are low back pain, sacro-iliac joint pain, leg cramps, and carpal tunnel syndrome. In the post-partum stage, women may experience symphysis pubis separation, wrist tendonitis, and low back pain.
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Physiotherapy Treatment
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 | Stabilization exercises to improve core stability and decrease stress on the lumbar spine |
| | Positioning and postural education |
| | Manual therapy techniques and massage |
| | Pelvic floor exercises to prevent urinary incontinence |
| | Specific stretching and strengthening exercises for your condition |
| | Sacro-iliac joint bracing |
| | Therapeutic modalities (ultrasound, laser, and muscle stimulation) and acupuncture can be used in the post-partum period, but not usually during pregnancy. |
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