Staying fit during pregnancy with gentle regular exercise is essential to ensure a healthy body for you and your baby and helps to prepare your body for birth. High impact exercise is not recommended during pregnancy unless you were already very fit before you became pregnant. Commonly recommended types of exercise for pregnant women are walking, swimming and pregnancy yoga.
Swimming is a particularly good exercise as it uses all the muscles in your body, providing a great cardiovascular exercise while being gentle on your joints. Pregnant women find swimming a particularly enjoyable way to exercise as the water supports your growing body, providing a feeling of weightlessness and freedom.
To ensure your comfort and support for your growing belly while you’re in the water, you’ll probably want to buy a maternity swimsuit. Swimsuits specially designed for pregnancy will stretch to fit your body as it grows larger while still allowing you to look stylish and feel comfortable at the pool. There’s a huge range of swimwear out there for pregnant women, so no need to worry that you’ll look like a beached whale! Maternity swimwear these days is cute and fashionable and many designer maternity clothing producers include swimwear as part of their range.
If you weren’t swimming regularly before you became pregnant, start slowly and be sure not to over exert yourself. You may want to check with your health care provider to get the all clear before you start any kind of exercise program.
Swimming is safe and healthy for all stages of your pregnancy and can be particularly helpful in the third trimester when other forms of exercise are likely to make you feel hot, sweaty and uncomfortable. Many pools and sports centers offer special maternity swimming classes which can help you make the most of your swimming sessions and make new friends. All you need to do is find some suitable maternity swimwear and locate a local pool and you’re ready to go!