Exercise During Pregnancy: 5 Benefits to Babies’ Health in the Long Run

Aside from keeping a woman's body healthy during pregnancy, a mother would want a healthier life for their babies in the long run. According to studies, exercise during pregnancy can do that!

In the preliminary findings of a study conducted by Kevin J. Pearson, his team found that exercise during pregnancy can bring positive effects. 

According to the research, the offspring of mice that exercised regularly during pregnancy had better stress resilience, compared to that of sedentary mouse mothers. The mice also improved insulin sensitivity into adulthood.

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Their team believed that maternal exercise during pregnancy might be an effective short-term intervention. That is for providing a lifetime of health benefits for the next generation of human children. 

Here are five benefits of exercise during pregnancy to your babies' health in the long run.

Lower odds of having diabetes

Pearson and his team did the study on mice showed that rats born to exercising mice had better insulin sensitivity. That is even when they were already adults themselves. According to the study, this result may also take place in humans and their babies. 

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Lower odds of having cancer

One of the benefits of exercise during pregnancy is lowering the risks and odds of having cancer. Pearson and his team's focus in their research are to examine the markers of oxidative stress. 

In both human and animal lives, reducing oxidative stress utilizing physical exercise turned out to lower the risk of some types of cancer. 

Boost in brain health

According to Harring et al., in their study conducted in 2011, babies of more active mice became less prone to neurodegeneration. This process changes within the brain leading to Alzheimer's disease. In the study, when pregnant mice engage in physical activities, there is a lower rate of neurodegeneration.

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Lower BMI (Body Mass Index) 

Stanford et al. in 2015 discovered that one of the benefits of exercise during pregnancy to mice is that their babies were not that predisposed to obesity and diabetes. 

The researchers are also positive that women who will do the same can see their babies grow healthier in the long run.

A healthier and fitter heart

In 2014, another study found out that regular workouts during pregnancy can lower the fetus' heart rate at 36 weeks gestation. This finding is considered as good because a higher heart rate can be a sign of fetus distress. The researchers also followed up their study until the babies are at a month old to see the benefits of exercise during pregnancy to babies.

Experts used mice in the studies mentioned above. Even so, these can also help in determining the benefits of exercise during pregnancy to humans. There are few studies on humans related to the research above, but other studies show that exercise can help mothers feel better during their 9-month pregnancies. Exercise during pregnancy has also been seen to help even during their labor significantly.