Pickaway Health Services

Pickaway Health Services & Berger Maternity Center
Prenatal Information -- Personal Care

Exercise

Ask your doctor about exercise. Exercise is important to your health and it is usually recommended to continue exercising while pregnant. There are some limitations to consider when planning an exercise routine during pregnancy.

Good exercise includes: walking, swimming, yoga, or mommy exercise videos at least 30 minutes three times per week. If exercising is new to you, build up your strength -- just go for a walk everyday.

Risky exercise: avoid activities that require holding your breath, bearing down, and jerky/bouncy motions or loss of balance (Lowdermilk & Perry, 2003) like surfing, mountain climbing, skydiving, skiing, gymnastics, horseback riding, skating, heavy weight lifting, scuba diving, and racquetball should be avoided. You may want to consider decreasing weight-bearing exercises such as jogging and running and do more non-weight-bearing activities such as swimming or stretching.

Next, seek help in determining what exercise routine is right for you. Usually it is recommended that you exercise regularly at least three times per week. (Lowdermilk & Perry, 2003) If you don't exercise regularly, start small and work up to more time. Also, you should warm up and stretch to prepare your muscles and joints before you begin strenuous exercise to help prevent injury.

Check your pulse every 10-15 minutes while you are exercising. Ask your doctor or other healthcare provider how to do this. If your pulse is more than 140 beats per minute slow down until your pulse is less than 90 beats per minute. (Lowdermilk & Perry, 2003) If you cannot talk while you're exercising you should slow down. Also, limit exercise time to about 30 minutes to avoid becoming too hot. You may need to decrease your exercise level as your pregnancy progresses.

Wear supportive shoes and a supportive bra while exercising. This will help prevent too much strain on your body and pain after exercise.

At the end of your exercise routine you should have a cool down period of mild activity. Following this cool down you should rest lying on your side for a few minutes and drink plenty of water. This is a great time to feel for your baby to move. If you have shortness of breath, dizziness, numbness, tingling, pain, more than four contractions per hour, decreased movement of your baby, or vaginal bleeding you should stop exercising immediately and call your doctor.

Hygiene

For an infection to be passed on, the chain of infection must occur. In order for the chain to occur all parts of the chain must be present. The means of transmission link is the easiest to wipe out. This involves simple things that you can do to stop the infection from spreading and prevent yourself from getting sick. These things are especially important in pregnancy.

Wash your hands -- before meals, after touching your nose or using the restroom
Shower or bathe on a daily basis -- this will help prevent yeast infections and other vaginal infections
Wash hair daily -- this helps prevent the spread of lice
Brush teeth twice daily -- tooth problems are common in pregnancy
Wash clothing regularly -- illnesses can live on clothing
See the dentist regularly

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