Exercise during pregnancy

Exercise during pregnancy is a topic that has so much mixed narrative around it, with conflicting and confusing advice online. While some people celebrate women who prioritise keeping fit during pregnancy, others are criticised on social media for maintaining their fit physiques whilst carrying a child. Scrolling through Instagram you’ll find comments like ‘irresponsible’, ‘selfish’, and even extremes like ‘you’re killing your child.’

Exercise during pregnancy: my experience

My pregnancy journey was only enhanced by maintaining my fitness as much as I possibly could. The mental health benefits of working out are often overlooked and replaced by the assumption that everyone who works out is doing so to look a certain way. So many people make the incorrect assumption that expectant mums are terrified of gaining weight and resent their changing body during pregnancy, and as a result are exhausting themselves in the gym to try and minimise these changes.

I was told more than once when I mentioned going to the gym that I ‘really shouldn’t be lifting anything.’ Come on people! Can we take a minute to acknowledge that women all around the world are ploughing fields and running marathons whilst still carrying their child safely? There are a number of reasons why women enjoy exercise and most simply do it because they enjoy the benefits of it.

Getting medical guidance is advised

I sought advice from my midwife early on in my pregnancy due to the amount of confusion surrounding the topic about what’s safe and what’s not and honestly the fear of what people would think of me if I carried on working out. She assured me that because I was fit and healthy before I got pregnant, my body would be used to it and encouraged me to exercise as regularly as I felt like it (with adaptations of course) in order to maintain a physically and mentally fit body.

This wasn’t always easy with low energy levels and limited mobility, but I couldn’t be happier with the decision I made to continue exercising – I genuinely feel that it carried me through the labour and recovery afterwards. And guess what? My baby was just fine. He’s pretty strong actually so I may have created a future Olympian!

As long as you listen to your body, rest when you feel that you need to and don’t push yourself to the same limits that you did before pregnancy, then exercise should be seen as a healthy and normal part of every woman’s life whether they’re expecting or not. You sacrifice so much when you become a mum, why should it be selfish to keep something for yourself when it’s only going to benefit you and your baby? Let’s stop patronising women and start understanding that we worry less about what we look like in a bikini and more about beating a personal best in the weight section.