Pregnancy and healthy weight gain.
A recent longitudinal study by the University of Queensland has found that young Australian women are gaining significantly more weight after pregnancy than their mother’s generation, leaving them and their child at serious risk of developing life-threatening health conditions in years to come.
The study, entitled The Effects of Having a Baby on Weight and conducted by Wendy Brown from the School of Human Movement Studies, found that having a baby has a significant effect on weight gain over a ten year period and that women of Generation Y are gaining weight at a much higher rate than their mother’s generation.
The upshot of this is that, according to the Institute of Medicine, only 30-40% of women stay within the healthy weight-gain range after having a baby.
The University of Queensland study did not identify possible reasons for the rise in post-natal weight gain, but some fitness experts are attributing the extra kilos to a sedentary lifestyle that begins in pregnancy.
Co-owner and founder of Queensland’s Pure Health Clubs Marina Perry-Kuhn, says various societal misconceptions, and the fact that a lot of women simply aren’t aware of their own physical ability, are leading women to believe they should be ‘taking it easy’ during pregnancy – when they should in fact be doing the opposite.
“Women generally think that some exercises are dangerous or risky to do while pregnant, but don’t know which ones – so simply do nothing at all,” Marina says.
“I also think many women – perhaps even society – think that pregnant women who prioritise exercise are ‘selfish’ or ‘vain’, and are putting their own needs before their child’s – which of course is not true.”
Perry-Kuhn also believes exercise during pregnancy is essential to prepare for childbirth.
“Labour can be likened to a marathon – it’s one of the hardest physical endurances most women will ever experience in their life, so it makes sense to ‘train’ physically and emotionally in the lead up to birth,” Marina says.
“The average active labour is 12 hours long for first-time mothers, and the average time women run marathons in is five hours. It simply doesn’t make any sense at all that women ‘rest up’ and do no exercise leading into such a physically-taxing experience,” she says.
As for how much exercise pregnant women should do, Perry-Kuhn is adamant that the more, the better.
“I personally feel women should move as much as they can during their pregnancies,” she says.
“I recommend exercising a minimum of 5-6 times a week, with exercises set at a level of intensity appropriate for the individual and ideally combining a mix of cardio, resistance work and stretching.”
Exercise has multiple benefits for new mothers too.
Perry-Kuhn says that, although new mums will definitely find it difficult to find time for themselves, women who do exercise and regularly take time-out for themselves experience greater self-esteem, lower stress levels, a more positive outlook and more energy than those who don’t.
“I believe a mother can only be the best mother possible by being in a positive head space about herself, both physically and emotionally,” she says.
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