Okay, okay, science! We get it. Exercise is good for us. All the time. Pregnant, not pregnant. Young. Old. Getting sweaty is the way to go.
A new study confirms that not only is exercise during pregnancy good for mom, it’s also good for baby. Linda May, an exercise physiologist and anatomist at the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, and her team discovered this by studying the measurements of 66 fetuses’ hearts while their moms-to-be were at 28, 32 and 36 weeks of their 40-week pregnancies.
Some of the women in the study did aerobics for thirty minutes at least three times a week while others didn’t work out. When researchers looked measured fetal heart rates at 32 weeks, they saw changes in heart rate in the fetuses of women who exercised regularly. And when those active moms hit 36 weeks, the fetal hearts showed a lower heart rate and high heart rate variability — which means that their babies were healthier.
“If she just does a little bit, it will have benefit,” May told Time. “If she does more, it will help more. It’s similar to the exercise response of an adult. It’s very cool.”
It gets better. The benefits of natal exercise for your baby don’t end when it’s born. After the study was completed, forty three of the participating mothers brought their baby’s back to May’s team when they were one month old. The researchers found that the babies of active moms were still healthier heart wise than the babies of mom’s who didn’t work out.
