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Exercising for Two
by Alan Greene, M.D.
www.drgreene.com
Exercise
is a green approach to health care. Yes, a green pregnancy means making
the most of what you take into your body, through what you eat, drink,
and breathe, and also absorb through your skin, hair, and nails. But how
you move your body is another powerful green way to make a difference.
There are many benefits of exercise during pregnancy, including improved
physical conditioning, strength, flexibility, and stamina. It builds
endurance for labor and delivery and a quicker postnatal recovery. By
exercising regularly, you may be able to reduce some of the common
discomforts of pregnancy such as backache, swelling, and constipation.
Most of all, you feel great about yourself when you exercise.
How Exercise Can Help More Than Medication
Let’s take a look at the effects of exercise versus medications for two
of the most important complications of pregnancy.
Gestational Diabetes
As many as one in eight women will develop gestational diabetes sometime
during their pregnancies, increasing health risks for themselves and
their babies. Researchers at the University of Southern California
School of Medicine studied a group of women who had already developed
gestational diabetes and who had fasting blood glucose levels high
enough to require insulin. Half of the women in the study received the
recommended insulin. The other half got personal trainers instead. The
trainers supervised the women while they did simple twenty-minute stints
on exercise bikes.
The results were startling: moderate aerobic exercise was equally
effective to insulin! Blood glucose levels were statistically the same
in both groups.
If exercise can be a prescription-strength way to control gestational
diabetes that has already developed, how much better to be active
throughout pregnancy and perhaps prevent the problem in the first place.
Insulin costs in the United States are staggering. The state Medicaid
programs alone pay $500 million a year just for the drug. The indirect
costs of diabetes are huge. Exercise is a green approach to health care.
Preeclampsia
A complication of a pregnancy in which blood pressure increases and
blood flow to the baby decreases. The only effective treatment for
preeclampsia is to deliver the baby, so it contributes to the growing
epidemic (and resource cost) of preterm deliveries. Again, regular brisk
walking or other moderate physical activity begun during pregnancy
significantly lowers the risk of preeclampsia. The benefit is even
greater if the exercise is begun before pregnancy. As thankful as I am
for neonatal intensive care units, they also represent one of the most
intense uses of resources in health care. A walk in the park is a much
greener way to deal with preeclampsia, when possible.
Prenatal Yoga
Yoga is one of the oldest physical practices in existence. Yoga balances
mind and body, work and relaxation. Through movement, posture,
relaxation, meditation, and intentional breathing, yoga aims to bring a
healthy, lively, flexible approach to life. With its emphasis on harmony
and balance, it is a beautiful metaphor for raising baby green.
Two recent studies compared an hour of prenatal yoga daily to an hour of
brisk walking daily. One of the studies looked just at women with
uncomplicated pregnancies. In this study, those who were randomly
assigned to the yoga group were significantly more likely to have an
ideal weight baby, significantly less likely to have preterm labor, and
significantly less likely to develop hypertension than the women who
exercised an hour a day by walking.
The other similar study looked at women with complicated pregnancies,
who had already been diagnosed with abnormal blood flow through the
umbilical and uterine arteries. These women were at increased risk of
delivering babies that were too small. Again, those randomly assigned to
the yoga group were significantly more likely to have a normal weight
baby than those who walked for the same amount of time.
If you are interested in a home guide to yoga before and after having a
baby, I like Anna Getty’s Guide to Prenatal and Postnatal Yoga, a DVD
boxed set that is great for both beginners and for seasoned
practitioners. As with any exercise, you can overdo it with yoga. Be
careful not to strain yourself, and have your instructor check to be
sure you’re doing it the best way for you.
The Green Exercise Standard
I agree with the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology in
recommending 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day, or at
least on most days. We all know that this is a good idea, but having a
baby is a fantastic time to make this resolution stick.
Talk with your pregnancy health care team before embarking on your
activity plan. Some exercise is wonderful. Too much, or the wrong kind,
is not. And some pregnant women should not exercise or should exercise
in an even gentler way.
But for most women, exercise during pregnancy is a wonderful benefit,
giving you stronger muscles, denser bones, healthier joints, and less
chance of urinary incontinence. And exercise also wards off the baby
blues or postpartum depression.
About
the Author:
Dr. Alan Greene, author of
Raising Baby Green, is a graduate of Princeton University and the
University of California San Francisco. In addition to being the founder
of www.DrGreene.com,
he is the Chief Medical Officer of A.D.A.M., and the Pediatric Expert
for WebMD. He is the Chair Elect of The Organic Center and on the
Advisory Board of Healthy Child Healthy World. Dr. Greene appears
frequently on TV, radio, websites, and in print including appearances on
The Today Show, Fox and Friends, The Wall Street Journal, Parents
Magazine, and US Weekly. Dr. Greene is a practicing pediatrician at
Stanford University's Packard Children's Hospital.
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