The famous proverb, “Too many cooks spoil the broth” holds true when it comes to listening to people’s advice about pregnancy. Are you also perplexed and not able to decide who to listen to? This confusion is reasonable. After all, you are a new mother or going to become one. To bring a solution to this concern, a movement called ‘The Pregactive Movement’ started to empower women and make them aware of all the necessary information required to lead a healthy and safe life during and after pregnancy.
Let us discuss some important prenatal and postpartum health care tips to stay fit.
Prenatal Period
It is seen very often that women wish to start or resume their exercise regime after conceiving and post-delivery. Here are some guidelines for prenatal exercises.
- Exercise regime: Women are advised to continue to exercise with required modifications as per the need if they had been exercising previously. Pregnant women who were inactive earlier need to start with easy exercises (at a low rate).
- Warning signals: Pregnant women should immediately stop exercising if they experience any of the following signs.
- Dizziness, vomiting or headaches
- Vaginal bleeding or leaking of amniotic fluid
- Contractions, abdominal cramps or pain
- Body ache and numbness
- Intensity: Moderate workout is advisable during pregnancy.
Postpartum Period
New mothers need to take care of their exercise routine till at least 16 weeks of delivery. They are advised to walk and do pelvic floor exercises in the initial three weeks post-delivery. The recommended exercises for 3-8 weeks postnatal period are swimming, light weight lifting and aerobics. From 12-16 weeks, the new mothers can return to higher impact exercises.
After 16 weeks, mothers can get back to their normal lives only if they do not experience any pain or vaginal heaviness.
