Fear, misinformation and outdated attitudes lead many pregnant women to park their running shoes, but personal experiences and new research show that running can bring many benefits to mums and their babies
Fear of harming their unborn child has led to many women giving up running during pregnancy. And it’s easy to see why. When a public figure is seen exercising while heavily pregnant, there’s often a backlash, with people accusing her of acting selfishly. The stats show almost half of women stop running during pregnancy, many citing anxiety, nervousness or fear of miscarriage as the reasons, according to a 2022 survey published in the Journal Of Women’s Health Physical Therapy.
‘I miscarried when I was seven weeks into my first pregnancy. I had been running three times a week. My partner, family and midwife at the time made me feel this had something to do with the miscarriage. So, I’ve never run pregnant since then,’ said one survey respondent.
However, a wealth of evidence to the contrary is coming to light. Exercise during pregnancy helps to prevent gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia and excessive weight gain, while decreasing the risk of postnatal depression by 25%. It also improves a mother’s cardiovascular fitness and sleep quality, while research in Clinical Medical Insights: Women’s Health demonstrates it reduces the risk of chronic disease for the baby, too.
Another recently dispelled myth is that running during pregnancy causes early delivery or low birth weight. A study of more than 1,200 pregnant women, published in BMJ Sport And Exercise Medicine, detected no association.
The recent shift in medical thinking has been profound. ‘If you go back five to 10 years, women were being told to avoid exercise in the first trimester and then dial it back [after the first trimester], and now we recommend pregnant individuals engage in physical activity and exercise from conception until delivery,’ says Margie Davenport, associate professor at the University of Alberta, Canada, one of the world’s leading maternal-foetal health researchers.
Unfortunately, lingering misconceptions and attitudes mean only three to 15% of women currently meet the recommended guidelines for physical activity during pregnancy and there’s a lack of consistent advice and support for those who wish to stay active – especially women from poorer socio-economic backgrounds.
Pregnant women had been largely ignored in sports science research in the past and, shockingly, the UK had no national guidelines on exercise and pregnancy until 2017. This was updated in 2019 to include recommendations for physical activity for women after childbirth. The publication of these guidelines was a ‘complete game changer’ says Active Pregnancy Foundation co-founder Dr Marlize De Vivo,
