A recent research revealed that exercising when pregnant is good for the mother as well as the baby. It helps in the healthy development of the heart and the nervous system of the fetus and also keeps the mother healthy.

In this study, 26 pregnant women, aged between 20 and 35, were studied in the 36th and 38th week of pregnancy. In the study the researchers wanted to see if exercising had an effect on the healthy development of the heart of the fetus and if exercising made the fetus have better breathing movements. Breathing movement in the fetus is just a practice movement where the fetus gets ready to breathe once it is born, which is also a sign of good development of the respiratory and nervous system.

The pregnant women who exercised, did moderate to vigorous walking, stationary bicycling and running for 30 minutes, 3 days a week. The study found that the babies born to exercising women had a mature respiratory system hence cot deaths wouldn’t occur among these babies. Cot death is where babies are unable to wake up and breathe for themselves. A non- invasive method was used to measure the heart rates and other movements.

Doctors say that though it is safe to exercise, before starting an exercise regimen, the pregnant women should discuss the intensity of exercise that they can do with the GP. Excessive exercising is not good for the unborn child and might even be dangerous if the mother gets too hot. It is important to not let the heart beat exceed 130 beats per minute. An easy way to know when the exercising intensity is alright is exercising only to an extent that you are comfortable enough to hold a conversation and aren’t panting a lot.
 

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