HHS HealthBeat (January 16, 2006)

Actively pregnant

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Staying active during a normal pregnancy can make pregnancy and birth go better. But a researcher says the chance that a woman will be active is lower if she is pregnant.

Terry Leet of St. Louis University found that in data on more than 150,000 women. His study, which was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.

Leet found one of four non-pregnant women, and only one out of six pregnant women were doing at least 30 minutes of moderate activity such as brisk walking on most if not all days of the week.

Leet says these pregnant women are missing an opportunity:

"It helps primarily with weight control. Weight control can decrease your risk for a Caesarean section, decrease your risk for gestational diabetes." (eight seconds)

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: May 7, 2011