has a lot of benefits, not only during pregnancy, but for labor and delivery and post-pregnancy. We have tips on how to exercise safely while pregnant.

Safety Tips

Avoid overheating - Studies suggest that overheating, especially during the early part of pregnancy, may cause birth defects. This would include overheating caused by hot tubs, which should be avoided. Your temperature (when taken in your armpit) should be less than 38.2 degrees C. Avoid overheating just in case!

Stop exercising if you experience the following: nausea, dizziness, fainting, blurred vision, vaginal bleeding, heart palpitations, breathlessness, swelling in extremities or sharp pain in abdomen and chest.

DON'T exercise if you have any of the following: high blood pressure, incompetent cervix (when the cervix is softer and weaker than normal, which can cause premature labor), placenta previa or heart disease.

Avoid certain positions and movements - avoid exercises that involve having you lying flat on your back. This is because you could put pressure on your vena cava, and in turn diminish blood flow to your organs. Avoid exercises that cause you to suddenly change positions, or over-stretch your pelvis or joints. Also, avoid lifting excessively heavy weights.

Don't start an exercise routine while pregnant if you've never exercised before. Now is not the time to go from zero to sixty in the exercise department. If you've never been active before getting pregnant, stick to mild exercises, such as walking.

Stick to no more than 60%-70% of your maximum heart rate. An easy way to calculate your maximum heart rate is to follow these 2 steps:

1) Multiply your age by 0.685.

2) Take the number 205.6 and subtract the result of 0.685 * age (#1 above).

This will give you your approximate maximum heart rate. For example, if you are 30 years old, your calculations would look like this:

205.6 - (30 x 0.685) = 185.05.

For 65% of your maximum heart rate, multiply 0.65 by the result from above. For example: 0.65 x 185.05 = 120.575. This would be your target heart rate.

While exercising during pregnancy, follow your gut if you think you're over-doing it.