The Importance of Movement During Pregnancy
The world has changed drastically in the last three years. COVID has forced us to alter our everyday state of being, from the great lockdown of 2020 to being more aware when someone is coughing nearby, COVID has literally changed the way we live our lives day to day.
One of the most prevalent examples of this is the immense shift to a work from home lifestyle. Due to COVID, many companies were forced to switch to a remote operation model. Once they realized it could be done from home, most abandoned their brick and mortar buildings for a hybrid or fully remote option to cut costs and increase productivity.
What happens when you no longer have to commute to work everyday? Perhaps pre-COVID you were an hour a day commuter, hopping from subway train to subway train and finishing with a brisk walk to the office with your favorite coffee in hand? Or the up and down from your desk at the office to the copier, in and out of meetings, leaving to get lunch - do you still get that daily movement working from home?
A cause and effect that may become more apparent over time as we adjust to this new lifestyle of remote work is the malpositioning of babies due to less lifestyle movement overall. Sure, getting up and down to grab something off the copier a few times a day may not seem like much, but when you’re brewing a baby in your belly, every movement counts!
Babies adapt to their environment, even when that environment is your uterus. For example, if an expectant parent has always worked out intensely, they do not need to stop once they become pregnant. In fact, it’s often better to continue the amount of activity you did prior to becoming pregnant for as long as you can, modifying where you need to as you and your baby grow.
A parent who becomes pregnant who is not as active, however, shouldn’t necessarily start an intense exercise program. That may cause stress on the baby and injure the parent, as hormones change to prepare for birth. Ligaments become more stretchy, muscle composition changes, hip bones start spreading, all in preparation for the big day.
So how much activity is safe for a pregnant person? What kind of activity and physical preparation should a pregnant person do in order to ensure everything is ready for the big moment of birth?
Stretching
Gentle stretching of your hips, lower back, and abdominal area will help to strengthen, lengthen, and tone your pelvic muscles and prepare for the big push! There are many different types of stretching, from prenatal yoga to more tailored techniques to help keep your body in tip top condition as you go through pregnancy and into birth.
Walking
whether you’re a full blown gym rat on the treadmill for extended periods of time or you enjoy a scenic, slow amble through your neighborhood, moving your body every day in some way is important for the positioning of your baby. If you can’t do it daily? Shoot for weekly. One or two times a week is better than not at all!
Incorporate Dynamic Motion
If you’re someone who now works from home, your days are probably spent at your home office, sitting in your office chair, completing your work from your computer in a less-than-ideal posture. Incorporating something that promotes dynamic motion, such as sitting on an exercise ball or utilizing a standing desk, will help with ensuring you are still moving throughout the day at home. If you want to multitask, get your walk in while you work with one of these under desk office treadmills!
Know Your Position
there are many techniques you can utilize (with correct instruction and supervision) to ensure your baby is in the best position they can be for birth. Most new parents know some of the positions a baby can be in during pregnancy (breech, transverse, etc.), but as you can see from this list, there are many different positions that a baby can wind up in that will make birthing pretty tricky. The solution? According to Spinning Babies, the three principles of making sure your baby is in proper positioning throughout pregnancy and once labor starts are:
Balance - making sure that your body is in alignment while pregnant, and we’re not just talking about chiropractically! There are tips, tricks, techniques, and positions to make sure your posture and positioning are balanced throughout your body, which helps move babies where they need to be to prepare to come into the world!
Gravity - why not utilize what Nature is giving you to ensure you’re ready for the big moment? If you can walk upright throughout your pregnancy, you’re already allowing gravity to get to work by helping your baby drop into your pelvic area and eventually, into the birth canal. There are many positions and exercises that utilize gravity to help baby inch their way into position throughout your pregnancy as well!
Movement - walking, yoga, figure 8’s on an exercise ball, jiggling, bouncing, “shake the apples” - all techniques and types of movement that target specific regions of your body to allow for your baby to get into position during pregnancy and labor. Creating a routine of movement, even if it’s just dancing it out for 30 minutes a day, is going to give your baby the best chance of being in prime position for showtime.
As we stated before, if you’re living a more sedentary lifestyle working from home these days, getting a bit of movement into your daily routine will make a world of difference! If you are interested in learning more about how you can incorporate helpful movement into your daily routine while pregnant, contact us at Beautiful Births & Beyond! Our doulas are ready to talk about how to make sure you’re moving in the right direction for your pregnancy, birth, and beyond!
