Exercise during first trimester as well as the rest of the pregnancy is not only safe it is advisable to do for a number of reasons. Unless it is likely that exercise could somehow endanger a woman or her pregnancy and it is medically advisable to take rest, women can and should be active throughout pregnancy.
There are many reasons you should exercise during first trimester of your pregnancy
It can help to keep weight gain under control. The various aches and pains that manifest in pregnancy can also be kept in check with the help of exercise.
It keeps you active and fit, increasing energy levels and helping to combat the fatigue and tiredness that are the hallmarks of early pregnancy. Exercise can also help keep at bay another hallmark of pregnancy; insomnia or sleep disturbance.
Exercise during first trimester is a natural mood elevator that keeps pregnancy mood swings under control. Another of the symptoms of pregnancy, constipation can also help to be reduced by exercise in the first trimester of pregnancy because exercise helps to accelerate the passage of food through the digestive tract.
Pregnancy exercise will stand you in good stead even after the delivery of the baby because it will makes sure that you are fitter during childbirth and delivery, that your recovery is quicker and that you will be able to shed your pregnancy weight gain faster as well.
Guidelines for exercise during first trimester
The sort of exercise you can do during pregnancy is determined by your pre pregnancy fitness levels. You can mostly continue with the kind of exercises that you were doing before your pregnancy if you were used to it.
Running, jogging, swimming, yoga, aerobics, relaxation techniques, Kegel exercises, and weight training and so on are all suitable pregnancy exercises. However there are some caveats:
- If you have a high risk pregnancy you should consult with a doctor to see what sort of exercise during first trimester is suitable for you. The doctor may advise only gentle exercise or in some cases no exercise at all because it may likely endanger the pregnancy or mother’s health at that stage.
- There are certain activities and exercise that are best avoided: skiing, horseback riding, and contact sport carry with them a high risk of falling, trauma and other injury and so these are not suitable exercises for the first trimester and later in the pregnancy.
- If there are signs such as high blood pressure, abdominal pain or contractions or other indications, exercise should not be continued and the doctor should be consulted immediately.
- One of the important things to watch out for with exercise during first trimester is overheating. If the basal temperature of the body rises more than a degree above normal, the risk of developmental problems for the baby rises. So very vigorous or very prolonged exercise that raises the body temperature should be avoided. Also any exercise that cause a lot of sweating needs replenishment of fluid so drink lots of water to avoid dehydration.
