Pregnant women jogging: Should pregnant women jog and exercise?

A pregnant woman participates in jogging - Illustration photo

Can I still run if I pass the polls?

During the Marathon held in Ha Long on September 22, a 25-year-old pregnant woman appeared on the race track with a 29-week pregnant belly, attracting the attention of many people.

This woman is a runner in Tuyen Quang, she used to run half marathons, graduated from medical school and worked in obstetrics and gynecology.

In this race, although the "super runner" only completed 5km in nearly 41 minutes (pace 8:09), just a little faster than walking, her relaxed expression and lively pace still impressed everyone.

To ensure safety, she ran with her husband. The organizers also arranged a medical team to closely follow this special runner along the course, to provide timely support if needed.

However, when seeing the image of a "pregnant woman jogging", many people support it, but many others think that exercising during pregnancy is too dangerous, harmful to pregnant women and fetuses, even causing miscarriage or stillbirth.

Discussing this issue, Dr. Tran Van Phuc, Xanh Pon General Hospital, said that in fact, images of pregnant women exercising or jogging lightly seem very unbelievable in Vietnam, let alone running a marathon - a rather heavy sport.

But pregnant women running marathons are not uncommon abroad. In some countries, such as the United States and Sweden, many marathon runners and runners will continue to train during the first few months of pregnancy, until the fetus is more advanced, some of whom can continue to train slowly and without too much exertion.

In fact, in some races abroad, there have been pregnant "athletes", the most successful being a 32-week pregnant woman who completed a triathlon including running, cycling and swimming.

Meanwhile, traditional Vietnamese beliefs are more cautious with pregnant women. In most of the comments on the topic "should pregnant women run" on the Internet, everyone is against it, even doctors and experts who mainly advise avoiding exercise or strenuous activities. The main purpose of all is to protect the fetus.

Experts have never completely denied the benefits of exercise, but no one dares to give specific advice on how to exercise.

Instead, doctors and experts only mention exercising "slowly", "avoiding strenuous exercise", avoiding "exertion" and "getting enough rest", and needing to maintain "good physical condition", which are the most common keywords.

How to exercise safely for pregnant women?

According to Dr. Phuc, in reality, there are no medical limits or guidelines for how much exercise is safe for pregnant women, let alone running a marathon. It all depends on the individual and when they start to show certain warning signs.

Doctors often advise that regular exercise helps women stay healthy during pregnancy, prevents gestational diabetes, especially for those with a BMI >33, reduces the risk of preeclampsia, gives birth to babies with normal weight, and prevents mothers and babies from being overweight.

In addition, exercising during pregnancy also helps improve the ability to cope with work, reduce symptoms of postpartum depression. Participating in exercise will also help mothers regain their shape after giving birth and speed up the process of returning to pre-pregnancy weight.

Because, during the 9 months and 10 days of pregnancy, the energy consumed by a woman is like "endurance training", it is equivalent to "running a marathon" for 40 consecutive weeks.

According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), in most normal health conditions, as long as it is not a high-risk exercise, exercising within a safe range will not increase the risk of miscarriage. It also reminds that, for people who are sedentary, it may affect the health of pregnant women.

However, the physiological characteristics of each stage of pregnancy are different, so exercise methods must also be adjusted accordingly.

During the first 3 months of pregnancy, the fetus is still in the embryonic stage and is not yet stable, pregnant women should not exercise too vigorously to avoid miscarriage, the best choice at this time is walking. Other exercises can be running a little faster than walking, or light moderate aerobic exercises.

In the next 3 months of pregnancy, the fetus's progress has stabilized, pregnant women can exercise appropriately according to their personal physical condition and previous training conditions, running can be maintained if conditions allow to avoid unnecessary stress on the body.

Shaking while running will not make the fetus feel dizzy, the mother's body will form a placenta to protect the baby, amniotic fluid is the best protective device. Exercises such as swimming, gymnastics for pregnant women, yoga... are all useful.

Ideally, at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise per week, 20-30 minutes at a time, should be done to help mothers maintain a healthy weight, reduce pain in body parts, reduce constipation, improve sleep quality, gestational diabetes, and pregnancy-induced hypertension.

When pregnancy enters the last 3 months, pregnant women should reduce the amount of exercise, can go for a walk or do some housework instead of exercising but should avoid using too much force, especially lifting and carrying heavy objects.

During exercise, pregnant women need to pay attention not to let their heart rate exceed their maximum heart rate as much as possible.

Maximum heart rate = (220-age) × 64%. If pregnant women feel dizzy, nauseous or tired while exercising, they should stop exercising immediately; if they experience abdominal pain or vaginal bleeding, they should go to the hospital for examination as soon as possible.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ba-bau-chay-bo-mang-thai-co-nen-chay-bo-tap-the-duc-20240927141012544.htm