Swimming provides you with a buoyancy and weightlessness that is welcome to most pregnant women. Especially when past the halfway mark of 20 weeks, you begin to feel the lethargy of those extra pounds and awkwardness of a growing belly. It is also a great way to relax and stretch out those ligaments and tendons that have been working overtime during pregnancy.
Best Exercise for Warm Weather
One of the best benefits of swimming during the hot summer months is that it really does cool you down. Overheating is a big risk for pregnant women especially when exercising outside as the temperature begins to sour in the summertime. Women who are pregnant already have a naturally higher internal basal temperature which is one of the early indicators of pregnancy. The cool water of a swimming pool helps to prevent overheating while exercising. However, it is important to remain hydrated even when you are in the pool as your body is working out and expending. It is also important to listen to your body and ease into exercise and take frequent breaks. Your pregnant body will tire quicker and your heart rate should not exceed 140 beats per minute.
Low-impact and Easy to Do:
Water exercises are very easy to do. You don't have to sign up for a fancy class or need years of yoga training to be ready to do some simple water aerobics. Best of all water exercise is low-impact, so it is very hard to injure yourself as the water breaks the impact of a slip or fall. Even just walking back and forth across the length of the pool is a good water resistance exercise. If you are more ambitious, grab a kick board and kick a few laps or do a frog kick breaststroke. If you are up for a little more, swim a few laps. Just a half hour of swimming or water exercise a day will help tone up your muscles for supporting your baby, can reduced pregnancy-related swelling, lower blood pressure and give more lubrication to your joints and ligaments.
Family Friendly Exercise:
Best of all swimming is a fun exercise the whole family can enjoy. If you have other small children, swimming is a great way to engage with them when you are pregnant and more limited in your physical activity or exercise endeavors. Everybody loves the water and swimming is great way for you to cuddle, hold and actively play with young children who may normally be too heavy for you to lift and carry and while pregnant. It's also a great time to improve swimming skills and water safety for early swimmers with you in the pool with them rather than watching from the bench. Just helping a little one to swim is water aerobics exercise in itself!
Low Start-up Costs:
In terms of equipment for water exercise, all you really only need is access to a pool and a comfortable maternity swimsuit. Prego Maternity has some excellent simple one piece maternity swimsuits such as the Empire Tank which gives excellent bust support and a great suit for real swimmers. For a lower cost check out Prego Maternity's Texture Heart Suit which is a great all around one piece suit for swimming or water aerobics.
Be sure to get your doctor's permission before embarking on a prenatal exercise program. There are some high-risk conditions that do rule our exercise during pregnancy. But, for most expecting women it is one of the best exercises you can do for your body and mind.
Among diabetic pregnant women, the most common problem when it comes to their baby's health is the condition called "macrosomia" or having a baby with large body. This is because the blood of the mother with diabetes is interchanged with that of the baby inside the womb. As a result, the baby will produce insulin to be able to glucose and this will lead to fat deposits, which causes the baby to grown larger compared to the regular ones.
What you can do
For a healthy lifestyle during pregnancy, it is ideal to maintain an appropriate weight gain, average consumption of various foods from different food groups, timely and prescribed vitamin and mineral supplementation, and lots of fluid intake. Sweets and fats should also be kept to a minimum level of consumption. The following are just some of the guidelines that pregnant women with diabetes can use to achieve healthy pregnancy despite the chronic disease:
1. Follow the appropriate meal plan religiously. More than ever, pregnant women should pay attention to what they eat and their eating patterns in general. This is very important because this stage-pregnancy itself-requires strict control of blood glucose levels in order to ensure that both the mother and baby are getting the right amount of key nutrients needed. In coming up with the right diet plan, it is best to seek the help of diabetes educator or a licensed dietitian to create the necessary adjustments needed to accommodate the needs not only of the fetus inside the womb but of the mother as well. In your meal plan, take note of calorie, carbohydrates and protein requirements every day because these will help you maintain normal blood glucose levels.
2. Regular Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose or SMBG. Experts say that the only way to tell if the woman is successful in controlling her blood glucose is by monitor their levels by themselves regularly. Since being pregnant is a sensitive condition, soon to be mothers should monitor their blood glucose levels more frequently. Ideally, SMBG should be monitored four to 10 times a day.
3. Knowledge in administering insulin injections and adjusting the doses based on the results of SMBG. Sufficient supply of insulin is very crucial for pregnant women so they must know how to administer insulin injections by themselves in case no one is around when they need it. They should also ask from their physician how to adjust the doses of insulin after they are through with the SBMG. Knowing how to adjust the doses of insulin needed is very important to ensure that the body's supply of insulin is stable.
4. Treating or controlling hypoglycemia. Pregnant women who are diabetics are more prone to hypoglycemia because of the hormonal changes in their body. Although studies show that there are no know effects of hypoglycemia in the baby, it is best to control or treat it as soon as possible so the soon to be mom won't be having troubles during the course of conception.
5. Maintaining regular set of exercise or physical activities. This is also very important for pregnant women with diabetes because through this they can reduce the risk of hypoglycemia as well as being overweight. Since it is hard for pregnant women to do strenuous workouts, it is best to maintain the hobby of having light exercises that will keep the body moving.
Both Amy Jarman & Jules Sims are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Amy Jarman has sinced written about articles on various topics from Parenting, Maternity Wear and Womens Health. Amy Jarman is owner of the and nursing clothes store Tummystyle.com. TummyStyle.com has a wide selection of. Amy Jarman's top article generates over 14800 views. to your Favourites.
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