Sport exercises in pregnancy are healthy for mother and child

Risk of premature birth is reduced by safe exercises
There are certainly conflicting views on whether exercise during pregnancy can be a danger to women and their child. Researchers have now found that safe exercise during pregnancy does not harm the mother or the fetus. It was also not observed that such sports exercises increase the risk of premature birth. Rather, even the probability of a medically necessary caesarean section is lowered.

Should women perform exercise during pregnancy? Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University have now found in an investigation that safe exercise can not endanger either mother or fetus and have a positive impact on medically necessary cesarean sections. The physicians published the results of their clinical study in the journal "American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology".

In fact, it is said that a little bit of sport can never hurt. But what about women in pregnancy? Researchers found that safe exercises in the swinging shaft bring great health benefits to both mother and child. (Image: Syda Productions / fotolia.com)

Exercises reduce the likelihood of complications
If women perform safe exercise during their pregnancy, this does not increase the health risk - even in women with a high-risk pregnancy, the experts say. The exercises even reduce the likelihood of complications during pregnancy.

Exercise does not increase the risk of premature birth
There has been a belief in the past that participating in exercise releases norepinephrine in the pregnant woman's body. Its increased concentration was supposed to stimulate the uterus, which would trigger a premature birth Vincenzo Berghella of Thomas Jefferson University. However, the new findings clearly show that exercises of this kind do not harm the unborn child or lead to a premature birth. On the contrary, the exercises even bring benefits for mother and child, the doctors say.

Physicians are studying the effects of exercise on more than 1,000 women
For the new study, the scientists analyzed the data from nine earlier studies. A total of 1,022 pregnant women participated in the studies. The women performed exercises three or four times a week, lasting between 35 and 90 minutes, explain the doctors. There was also a control group of 1,037 women who did not participate in any exercises.

No differences in weight or age of birth noted
During the study, it was noted that women who had participated in sports exercises had similar premature birth rates to women who did not do any exercises. In addition, the children were born after a similar period of pregnancy and had a comparable weight, the authors explain.

Clear advantages can be recognized by sports exercises
Seventy-three percent of athletic women had a vaginal delivery, while 17.9 of the participants had to undergo a caesarean section, the experts say. In contrast, only 67 percent of women who had not taken part in exercise had a vaginal delivery, and 22 percent required caesarean delivery. If women are more likely to have gestational diabetes and hypertension, it certainly pays off to do exercises safely to gain positive health benefits, the researchers add.

Conclusion: Pregnant women should participate in safe exercise
There are many different reasons why women stop exercising during pregnancy. Increased fatigue and the feeling of being out of breath by even the slightest effort are just two of those reasons, explains Drs. Mountain Hella. However, the results of the new study now clearly confirm that exercises are good for the mother's health and that the baby is not at an increased risk of premature birth. (As)