Week 25 – Pregnancy and Exercise
Pregnancy and exercise
Exercising during your pregnancy will help you feel good, and may make your labor and delivery easier. While gaining 25-30 pounds is healthy for most pregnant women, becoming seriously overweight can cause health issues for mothers and babies. To stay fit through pregnancy, here are a few things to keep in mind:
* Most exercises are safe during pregnancy, as long as you exercise with caution and stop when you feel tired. The safest and most productive activities are those that carry little risk of injury, benefit your entire body, and can be continued until birth. These include swimming, brisk walking, indoor stationary cycling and elliptical machines, and low-impact aerobics.
* Your developing fetus and the other demands of pregnancy require more oxygen and energy. You may find that you become out of breath or fatigued more easily.
* Hormones produced during pregnancy cause the ligaments that support your joints to stretch, increasing the risk of injury.
* Your center of gravity shifts during pregnancy, and the added weight of your uterus and baby puts stress on your joints and muscles in the lower back and pelvic area. It is easier to lose your balance, so you may wish to avoid exercises that require it. Tennis, squash, and other court sports requiring rapid movements may become risky as your pregnancy proceeds. Also avoid exercises in which you must twist at the waist while standing or, after your third month of pregnancy, that require lying on your back or right side for more than a few minutes.
Please note that if you have a medical problem, such as asthma, heart disease, or diabetes or if your pregnancy is the result of in-vitro fertilization, your doctor may want you to limit your exercise program or monitor it closely. Your doctor may also wish to limit or monitor the exercise you do if you have an obstetric condition such as: bleeding or spotting, low placenta, threatened or recurrent miscarriage, previous premature births or history of early labor, and weak cervix
No hot tubs please! Whatever your chosen exercise, take care not to raise your core body temperature beyond the level at which your body can cool itself through sweat and fluids, as doing so will raise your fetus’s temperature and might be harmful. Ending your exercise routine with a spell in the sauna, hot tub, or steam room, therefore, is not safe during pregnancy.
Your Baby’s Development
* The fetus will grow rapidly during this week and gain about half a pound.
* His brain and nervous system continue their rapid growth as they become more complex.
* By this time, rapid bone formation is occurring, requiring more calcium for bone development, especially during the third trimester.
* She is making breathing movements, but she would not be able to fully take in air at this point.
Parenting Q&A
Q:”What is a typical or normal number of fetal movements in the course of a day? How do I know if I should be worried that she is not moving? What do you recommend if an expectant mother suspects no activity?”
A:At week 25, it may be a bit early to gauge the regularity of your fetus’s movements, as they vary in how much they move in the womb from day to day and from fetus to fetus. Some are always active; others tend to be quiet. Mothers, too, may have days when they’re on the go and not as aware of kicks and squirms as they are on less busy days. While fetuses have less room in which to move as they grow, you will still feel stretching and shifting well into your third trimester. If you are worried at any time, contact your healthcare provider directly for advice. That advice may include keeping a “kick count,” which means counting movements for a few minutes at the same time each day. Choose a time when you are able to sit quietly and relax. Beginning with the first movement you feel, write down how long it takes to feel 10 movements (not counting hiccups). Your healthcare provider will want to know if it takes longer each day for your fetus to move 10 times, or if you do not notice any movements for 12 hours.
Courtesy: University of Virginia Health System
Tags: aerobics, brisk walking, exercise, fetal movements, kick count, pregnancy, swimming
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