While a majority of women feel discomfort and uneasiness throughout the period of their pregnancy and avoid any kind of heavy and tiring work, it is important to understand that doing exercise during their pregnancy plays a major role in maintaining your health and resulting in a normal delivery.
Several pregnant mothers avoid exercise due to the fear of causing injury to the fetus or preterm delivery, but as the research shows, exercising during the first, second, and third trimester is extremely important to reduce any further complications during the delivery.
According to the studies, 15% of the women are not able to give natural birth and require other interventions such as C-section, which may lead to several complications in the future and resulting in a long-term recovery period. To avoid this situation, 9th-month pregnancy exercise can help you achieve normal delivery by posing some minor changes in terms of physical structure.
Is it safe to do exercise during the 9th month of pregnancy?
It is common for some pregnant mothers to fear from doing exercise during their pregnancy, as it will require some stretching and a lot of efforts. But according to the research, exercising is completely safe for your baby and plays an important role in your pregnancy, especially, during the 9th month of your pregnancy.
Along with the exercises, it is crucial to give yourself the high standard care during pregnancy which includes drinking plenty of water, getting proper sleep of at least eight to ten hours, eating a balanced diet, and paying attention to the unwanted changes in your body and emotions. However, it is important to note that some exercises should be avoided which can put a strain on your muscles and joints.
Benefits of 9th-month pregnancy exercise
Exercises during 9th month of pregnancy come with several benefits which ensure delivery of a healthy baby and reduces future complications. Some of the advantages include:
1. Enhancement of physical strength
Exercises are well-known to help in reducing excessive weight and maintaining your body fitness. It helps you stay fit and active throughout the day and carry out your daily activities effectively. Exercises also prove beneficial during the final stages of your pregnancy. As you are prone to gain some extra weight during your pregnancy, exercising helps in eliminating the chances of obesity-related complications which can hamper the growth of the fetus and provides you physical strength to reduce the complications and achieve a normal delivery.
2. Reducing the risk of gestational diabetes
A majority of women suffer from overweight and obesity during their pregnancy, which results in causing gestational diabetes and worse impact you and your baby’s health. Some basic cardiovascular workouts are very helpful in lowering the chances of developing gestational diabetes.
3. Rapid recovery period
After the delivery, your body can take a longer period to recover fully. To ensure a speedy recovery time, perform Kegel exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. It helps in improving the recovery rate postpartum.
4. Reduces constipation issues
Several health issues during pregnancy including constipation can lead to poor health and discomfort. Exercising is known to provide great relief in constipation and eliminates discomfort.
5. Reduces the delivery time
regular exercise can help in reducing the long delivery time and makes it quick and easy without any complications. Moreover, the workout is much beneficial especially in case of vaginal birth.
6. Reduces back pain
Late pregnancy can cause much distress and back pain. Getting pregnant at a late age comes with several complications. But regular exercising can help eliminate this drawback and help you reduce back pain problem.
Read: What Not To Wear During Pregnancy
Precautions to take before exercise during 9th month of pregnancy
Although exercises are considered safe during pregnancy, there is a certain precaution that you should take before starting with your workout schedule. The list of necessary precaution includes:
- Before you begin with any of the exercises during your third trimester, make sure to consult your obstetrician/gynaecologist. He will help you choose the right exercise which is safe for your body. This is the most important thing to do than choosing the wrong exercise can cause much harm to you and your baby. After choosing the right exercise, you will be provided with some necessary guidelines to perform them safely.
- Make sure to perform only those exercises which have a low impact on your body. Avoid those exercises that cause stress on your joints and ligaments. As joint pain can be a worse problem to have during pregnancy. Moreover, you should strictly prohibit doing this exercise as these body parts tend to get weak due to production of pregnancy hormones.
- Eliminate all the complicated exercises from your routine which demands too many body movements. Moreover, ensure to set a moderate pace to avoid the repetition of exercises.
- Avoid longer sessions of exercise as it can make you feel tired and weaker for the day ahead. Along with this, always wear loose breathable clothes that make you feel comfortable throughout the workout session. To maintain a good posture of your foot and avoid any anatomical misalignment, it is necessary to wear good and supportive shoes. As pregnancy can also lead to breast augmentation, make sure to wear a good quality sports bra during exercise.
5 Types of 9th-month pregnancy exercises to perform
Here are the 5 types of exercises that you can perform in your 9th month of pregnancy.
1. Yoga
Yoga is associated with a lot of health benefits and is considered completely safe during pregnancy. It Is the best exercise to improve flexibility and strength of the body. Other benefits of yoga include improving sleep, lowering symptoms of stress and anxiety. In addition to this, yoga helps in reducing body pain, while improving your breathing rates and circulation process. Yoga is also said to have relieving benefits towards various pregnancy-related symptoms such as headache, nausea, and much more. However, in cases, a person may feel some issues due to the yoga positions. In such cases, immediately stop and change them according to your body’s preference.
2. Exercise ball
Exercise balls are considered safe and effective to strengthen your abdominal and core muscles. Make sure to select the right exercise ball and inflate it correctly so that it suits your height.
3. Pelvis strengthening
Performing those exercises which help in strengthening your pelvic floor muscles is very important as pregnancy puts a lot of pressure on those muscles. To get rid of this, pelvic exercises prove quite helpful. There are some of the best pelvic floor exercise available:
- Pelvic stretches: This type of pelvic exercise involves placing your feet firmly on the floor and stretches your legs away from each other. Do not forget to maintain the posture while stretching away from your legs. This exercise helps in enhancing your flexibility and reduces the pain during labour time and delivery of the baby.
- Pelvic tilts: in some cases, the baby inside your womb is positioned incorrectly by placing the legs in front of the opening. This can lead to a difficult delivery. Pelvic tilt exercise helps in flipping the baby in a right position i.e. towards the downwards descending position. It helps in lowering the labour difficulty and ensures a smooth delivery. This exercise involves kneeling on the floor and bending over the chest while making a semi D shape. This is beneficial for increasing back muscle and core strength.
- Cobbler pose: It is a perfect exercise for relaxing the tension in the lower body muscle. This exercise is performing by sitting on the ground while keeping your feet against each other towards your inner thighs. Slowly move your both knees downwards in repetition. Perform this until you feel your inner thigh muscles stretching. Perform this exercise for 20 seconds then relax for a minute and repeat five times.
4. Aerobic exercises
Aerobics is considered one of the best and easy ways to ensure a fit body during pregnancy. Walking for around ten to twenty minutes daily can help you improve your cardiovascular health while promoting flexibility. Swimming is also considered an effective exercise for the last month of pregnancy to ensure good regulation of heart rate and achieving well-toned muscles.
5. Pilates
Pilates is popularly known for improving elasticity and strength. Performing this exercise is important as a growing baby can weaken the abdominal muscles and cause back pain. Pilates is usually done on hands and knees and helps in reducing the pressure on the abdomen and back. Perform this exercise only after taking guidelines from your trainer.
Pregnancy is one of the most precious yet stressful parts of your life, where you undergo drastic changes in terms of body structure and emotions. Don’t let your discomfort ruin the happiest period of your life. Perform this 9th-month pregnancy exercise and get rid of all the pregnancy complications to ensure a normal delivery. If you are in 9th-month pregnancy, then try out these exercises and let us know about your experience in the comment section.
