Is it good to have exercise while a mother is pregnant? If so, what are the exercises that are allowed to protect the baby inside the womb as well as the mother who is carrying the baby?

I was told I could exercise as much as I usually did, just to cut back if I started to get too tired, or clumsy, or if my belly started to get in the way. When I had a midwife she told me it was important to walk every day.

I was encouraged to exercise in moderation while I was pregnant. I was told it would help my body and also the baby. I did mostly walking and stretches (not too much though).

The benefits of of regular, moderate level exercise during pregnancy are truely outstanding, both for mom and her developing baby.

Fit moms have fewer pregnancy complications and discomforts, easier labors, gain less weight, and bounce back quickly after childbirth. Exercise strengthens your immune system which you then pass on to your baby during breast feeding.

Babies born to fit moms have stronger cardiovascular systems, and are leaner at birth. Intriguing new studies show that aerobic exercise during prenancy increases the baby's development of the frontal cortex, the "thinking brain," so exercise during pregnancy can even make your baby smarter!

Maternal health is tired with fetal health. The healthier you are, the healthier that you baby will be!

My lamaze instructor as you would probably guess made sure we exercised as a part of the seesion we had each week. She also showed us how to do it at home without causing ourselves harm.

The thing that people often forget is that the process of childbirth involves the use of muscles, and like any muscles if they are not used they get weaker and labour will be harder. By being fit you have a better stamina and so are likely to cope better with child birth. I was always told to not exercise any more than you did before pregnancy, ie it would be unwise to start something new but that continuing what you are used to is perfect.

I think small exercise is good when it comes to the last few months of pregnancy, and something that will keep the blood moving after the baby arrives, but nothing too strenuous.

Exercize is a wonderful thing at any time in your life. I believe that the body will tell you when to slow down. Stretching is also wonderful when you are pregnant. It is excellent on the muscles and not too hard on the body.

Exercise is wonderful while pregnant, as all the other ladies have said. My only advice would be to not do anything requiring good balance in the later months. You're going to be amazed at how your center of balance gets thrown off. I'm not the most coordinated at the best of times, I think if I tried step aerobics, for example, in my third trimester, I would have toppled in about 3 seconds!!!

Thank you moms for your input about exercise! Now that we know that exercise is good for the mommy and the baby, what are the exercises that are good at what stages? Light jogging might be good on the first months or so. What are your suggestions on the proper way of exercise when pregnant?

Jogging is OK for pregnant women who are acclimated to the activity. High impact exercise can be tough on the knees and ankles, and since the hormones of pregnancy soften ligaments, I don't recommend starting this type of routine during pregnancy.

But certainly, aerobic exercise should form the foundation of prenatal fitness in the first half of pregnancy. Pregnant women who engage in moderate level aerobic exercise grow bigger placentas, have stronger immune systems, gain less fat, and have babies that have stronger cardiovascular sysytems. Animal studies show that regular aerobic maternal exercise increases the density of neurons in the cerebral cortex (the thinking brain) so aerobics may well increase your baby's IQ!

Good chioces for prenatal aerobics include power walking, treadmill, elliptical trainer, stationary bike, low impact aerobic classes, water aerobics, and easy dance-based aerobic classes. Aim for a minimum of 30 minutes of aerobic activity on most days of the week. If you are a regular exerciser already, then you can workout for longer periods.

When performing aerobic exercise, monitor your heart rate and your precieved exertion. ACOG, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists revised their recommendations in 2002, and no longer advise pregnant women to keep their heart rates below 140 BPM. But keeping track of your aerobic heart rate, and correlating it to your rate of perceived exertion is a good idea. Always stay at an intensity that you feel is "somewhat difficult."

As your pregnancy progresses, your rate of perceived exertion will rise during a given activity and you will need to taper off your exercise intensity, especially after 20 weeks. A sudden increase in your usual heart rate or perceived exertion is a sign that you should slow down, and may be an indicator of over-training, an immune system challenge, or other stress.

Basic strength training and regular stretching will round out your prenatal fitness program and keep both you and your developing baby in top health.

To be honest, jogging is something that I am unlikely to try any time soon. It seem too risky. Just the bouncing motion makes me dizzy and I am not even pregnant.

If you weren't a regular jogger before you got pregnant don't start doing it after you get pregnant. I have had several friends who were big into jogging and continued to do so up until the third trimester.
Obviously, no sit-ups or anything like that while you are pregnant. I did a lot of walking and that worked well for me.

To be honest, jogging is something that I am unlikely to try any time soon. It seem too risky. Just the bouncing motion makes me dizzy and I am not even pregnant.

Hee hee, Chrissy, you're funny! Yeah jogging is not for everyone. I'm fitter than most but jogging made my morning sickness 10 times worse so I stick to swimming and hill walking. However, if you have always jogged there's no reason for you to stop when you're preggers if you still feel fine.

A great way to avoid piling on the pounds is to do intervals, (as well as lose fat post partum). Start with a 5 minute gentle warm-up then alternate between reasonably hard exercise for 1 min then a very easy pace for 1 min. Repeat for 5 intervals up to a maximum of 8 intervals. 5 mins easy cooldown.

You can apply this to lots of things from swimming, jogging, walking up the stairs and then coming down for the rest interval, walking/runing up a hill then an easy walk down, jumping jacks and marching on the spot.....use your imagination and keep it interesting!

There are some really good exercise videos out that show good stretches and aerobic exercise for pregnant women. Some of them also tell you what to stay away from and introduce some new moves that will help to prepare your body for birth.

I kept doing what I was already doing, crunches, aerobics and walking. The doctor said not to start new exercises just do the same ones only stop when it got uncomfortable for me.

FYI — crunches, and other exercises (like oblique twists, bicycles, most Pilates mat work) that flex the upper spine against the force of gravity are contra-indicated during pregnancy.