Bumping it up during pregnancy
Giving birth on the run no great shakes
people dictate to them on how to eat and what exercise to do.
A study in the latest British Medical Journal showed that healthy eating and exercise in pregnancy was good for the women but made no difference to stillbirths and newborns.
“[These] interventions lowered the odds of caesarean section but had no effect on offspring outcomes‚” wrote researchers from the International Weight Management in Pregnancy Collaborative Group. How far can you push your body while pregnant?
Serena Williams won the Australian Open in January while she was pregnant – but then again‚ the world’s number one female tennis player is in a league of her own.
US runner Amber Miller finished the 2011 Chicago Marathon and hours later gave birth to a healthy baby‚ but she’s not the only endurance athlete to give birth on the run‚ more or less.
A talented Cape Town trail runner and GP gave birth to her third baby under a tree after a midnight run – when she couldn’t sleep.
American rock climber Aimee Roseborrough climbed until the final weeks of her two pregnancies.
“I do kind of get to forget that I’m so huge and‚ at times‚ uncomfortable ... it takes you to a beautiful place‚” she said on a US TV show.
In the early days of my pregnancy at 40‚ I was white-water rafting in a competition in Ecuador. After that I climbed a snowy mountain peak higher than Kilimanjaro and the next year my son was born healthy.
UK sport scientist Professor Greg Whyte has written a book to set out his views, titled Bump It Up: The Dynamic‚ Flexible Exercise and Healthy Eating Plan for Before‚ During and After Pregnancy.
He recommends exercise as a way to stay fit and relaxed during and after pregnancy.