Volleyball player Kerri Walsh Jennings was pregnant with her third child when she won her third gold medal during the 2012 London Olympics. Her husband jokes that she gets a gold medal for every baby.
Moms-to-be should take a page out of Jennings' playbook. A new study from Spain, led by Western University in London, Ontario, reveals that exercising when pregnant is effective for fighting off high blood pressure, which affects up to 10 percent of all pregnant women and triggers pre-eclampsia and eclampsia that are threats to both mother and fetus.
High blood pressure is also associated with long-term maternal risk of heart disease.
But don’t worry, you don't need to train like an Olympic athlete. The women in the study did 50 to 55 minutes of aerobic, strength, and flexibility exercises three times a week beginning week 9 to 11 and going through week 38 to 39.
And the workouts did more than battle hypertension. The study showed that pregnant women who didn't exercise were one and a half times more likely to gain excess weight and two and a half times more likely to deliver a baby that was oversize.
So if you're pregnant or planning on becoming, get an exercise okay from your doctor. Check your area for shared medical appointments for pregnant women that teach stress management, nutrition and cooking, and appropriate physical activity to help you avoid long-term health risks to yourself and your children.
Posts by Dr. Mehmet Oz, M.D. and Dr. Mike Roizen, M.D.
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