Can you play sports while pregnant? The midwife answers

This is a question that many pregnant women ask themselves, often without finding a precise answer. So let’s clarify which sports are recommended and which are not recommended during pregnancy.

Often the pregnant woman is considered “sick” and therefore the whole lifestyle in those months is changed and the woman stops!

Pregnancy, on the other hand, is a physiological state of relative normality .

During pregnancy, the body changes. The most evident changes are in posture , in the way of walking, in the center of gravity that moves forward. All this leads to stress on the muscles and unpleasant tensions are created which, if neglected, lead to lumbosciatica, pubalgia, sciatica.

It is precisely a correct physical activity that keeps the body “in shape” during the sweet wait, helping the body to adapt to the great change without suffering from it.

Here are some benefits of exercising during pregnancy:

• weight control
• support for muscle tone
• correct indications in the control of posture
• correct breathing
• endorphin production
• help with back pain
• exercise and preparation of the perineum for childbirth
• less incidence of postpartum depression

Sports to avoid during pregnancy

I advise you to avoid all anaerobic sports , high altitude efforts and diving , contact sports.

Downhill skiing and mountaineering , horse riding , diving , tennis , basketball , volleyball should be avoided .

Sports to do while pregnant

Green light instead to running , jogging , swimming , cycling , yoga , gentle gymnastics , pilates,  cross-country skiing , jogging .

Choose one of these activities and make it present in your daily life.

Daily physical exercise prevents and reduces many typical pregnancy ailments:

• constipation
• backache
• formation of varicose veins
• hemorrhoids
• ankle edema

Trust your midwife and have them teach you easy gymnastic exercises aimed at your problems: the physical discomforts will change as the pregnancy progresses and you too can change the exercises to counteract them.

Soft gymnastic exercises are useful because with stretching the muscle acquires elasticity and this ensures correct blood circulation.

Water gymnastics is also excellent because the force of gravity lifts the back from the weight of the belly and you get less tired.

The rules to remember

There are some rules to respect when playing sports during pregnancy:

• do not play sports when you are tired or have a fever.
• change positions in the exercises slowly
• drink a lot of water
• wear comfortable, layered clothing
• if during the activity you experience weakness, nausea, contractions or pelvic pain, cramps, palpitations, stop immediately

Among the recommended activities are  Kegel exercises . They are exercises for the pelvic floor muscles, useful for the prevention of urinary incontinence.
You can safely do these exercises while waiting for the bus or watching TV!

The cat exercise

• Get on all fours.
• Inhale and heal your back down.
• Exhale and reverse the movement, starting from the sacrum and working your way up.
• You can do this every morning to stretch your back muscles.
• To lighten the Lombard part of the back from the weight of the belly.

Here it is in a video (in English): as you can see, the exercise must be done slowly .