Skin Natural : pregnancy do's and donts'

Monday, September 28, 2015

Exercising and Pregnancy {Pregnancy} [Part - III]

Read the previous part of this series here. This is the last post of this series.

Guest Post by Punam

General cautions for pregnancy exercise

While most forms of exercise are safe, there are some exercises that involve positions and movements that may be uncomfortable or harmful for pregnant women. Be guided by your doctor or physiotherapist on those positions but let me share some of the generic cautions:

Avoid raising your body temperature too high – for example, don’t soak in hot spas or exercise to the point of heavy sweating. Reduce your level of exercise on hot or humid days.

Don't exercise to the point of exhaustion.

If weight training, choose low weights and medium to high repetitions – avoid lifting heavy weights altogether.

Don’t exercise if you are ill or feverish.

If you don’t feel like exercising on a particular day – then don’t! It is important to listen to your body to avoid unnecessarily depleting your energy reserves.

Exercises to avoid while pregnant

During pregnancy, avoid sports and activities with increased risk of falling like:

Contact sports or activities that carry a risk of falling (such as trampolining, roller blading, downhill snow skiing, horse riding and basketball)

Competition sports – depending on the stage of pregnancy, the level of competition and your level of fitness

After about the fourth month of pregnancy, exercises that involve lying on your back – the weight of the baby can slow the return of blood to the heart. Try to modify these exercises by lying on the side.

In the later stages of pregnancy, activities that involve jumping, frequent changes of direction and excessive stretching (such as gymnastics).

If you're not sure whether a particular activity is safe during pregnancy, check with your doctor.

Pelvic floor exercises and pregnancy

The pelvic floor muscles are weakened during pregnancy and during normal birth (vaginal delivery), so it is extremely important to begin conditioning the pelvic floor muscles from the start of the pregnancy. Appropriate exercises can be prescribed by a physiotherapist. It is important to continue with these throughout the pregnancy and resume as soon as is comfortable after the birth.

Abdominal exercises and pregnancy

Strong abdominal muscles support your spine. The internal core and pelvic floor abdominal muscles act as a natural ‘corset’ to protect the pelvis and lumbar spine. Traditional sit-ups or crunches can be ineffective during pregnancy and may make worse the condition known as diastasis recti abdominis (a painless splitting of the abdominal muscle at the midline).

Appropriate core stability exercises are recommended during pregnancy to strengthen the muscles of the abdomen:

Concentrate on drawing your belly button towards your spine.
Breathe out while pulling in your belly.
Hold the position and count to 10. Relax and breathe in.
Repeat 10 times, as many times a day as you are able.
You can perform this exercise sitting, standing or on your hands and knees.

Warning signs for exercising during pregnancy

If you experience any of the following during or after physical activity, stop exercising immediately and see your doctor or physiotherapist:

Headache
Dizziness or feeling faint
Heart palpitations
Chest pain
Swelling of the face, hands or feet
Calf pain or swelling
Vaginal bleeding
Contractions
Deep back or pubic pain
Cramping in the lower abdomen
Walking difficulties
An unusual change in your baby’s movements
Amniotic fluid leakage

And, finally, Things to remember

Exercise during pregnancy offers many physical and emotional benefits. While exercise during pregnancy is usually encouraged, you may feel it’s not right for you.

Talk to your doctor, physiotherapist or healthcare professional to make sure your exercise routine won’t cause harm to you or your unborn baby.

Any illness or complication of the pregnancy should be fully assessed and discussed with your doctor before commencing or continuing an exercise program.

What do you say? Do you think it is good to exercise during pregnancy? Did you doctor recommend it to you? Or, did they cite reasons for it being unsafe for you?

Punam is currently busy with her second baby and I wish she will soon come on board with more articles like these. She blogs at be beautiful with Punam.

Friday, September 25, 2015

Using laptop and mobiles during Pregnancy {Pregnancy}

What are we pregnant women not warned against - drinking, smoking, eating, stress? And now, add to the list, its mobile and laptops. All electronic devices and gadgets produce heat and radiation which are harmful for us but, imagining a life without mobiles and laptops is kind of difficult today. But, unfortunately, laptops produce intense heat that is harmful for all of us and especially for pregnant women.

Do's & Dont's

Pregnant women should not keep laptops on their laps or stomach.
If you are working on laptop or desktops, take more breaks and relax your body more often.
Blink your eyes more often to stay away from strain.
Try to use the best comfortable position for your body and neck.
Minimize your use of cell phone and get shifted to old tring tring :)
Don’t keep your cell phones near your bed.

If you have a bad habit of keeping your laptop on your lap (yes, I know its meant to be that), then avoid it. Doing it a lot can lead to toasted skin syndrome, an unusual-looking mottled skin condition caused by long-term heat exposure. You can also see some dark skin coloration on your thighs. I know its difficult to do but if you are pregnant, try to use laptops and mobiles a little less. You will be troubled not only from the heat produced but also, hunching on laptops can lead to muscular pain, back and neck ache.

Similarly, mobile phones are even more harmful than laptops for pregnant women. My hubby hated when I used to talk on phone during my pregnancy. He always asked me to use the landline instead. Well, when I googled about the harms of mobile for pregnant women then I was shocked!! Research says women using mobile phone often are more at risk of giving birth to a baby with behavioural problems. Using a mobile two to three times a day is also enough to raise emotional and hyperactive problems.

And, this advise can as well be taken by everyone coz laptops and mobile phones are equally harmful for one and all. How long do you stay glued to your laptops and mobiles? I, for one, am not a mobile person but I do stay glued to my laptop :(

Thanks for such a great post Punam :) And, hope you all find this helpful. Btw, I would like to tell you all about Punam's blog as well - be beautiful with Punam.

welcome