Exercise During Pregnancy Keeps Newborn S...(ised three times a week or more before p...),Health

By the 30th week of pregnancy, 25 percent reported never exercising, and 19 percent said they exercised one to three times a month. Twenty-nine percent reported exercising one to two times weekly, while 24 percent said they were exercising three or more times each week.

Pre-pregnancy exercise didn't seem to make a difference in a baby's birth weight, but exercise during pregnancy did. In women who'd never been pregnant before, those who were exercising at least three times a week had a 28 percent reduced risk of a large birth weight baby, while those who were still regularly exercising at 30 weeks had a 23 percent decreased risk of having a too-big baby.

The effects of exercise didn't appear to be as consistently beneficial in women who'd already had children. When these women danced or participated in low-impact aerobics, they also reduced the likelihood of delivering a large baby, but when they swam or trained in fitness centers, the benefit disappeared.

Although the study wasn't able to address why this was so, Dr. Steven Allen, chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at Scott & White Healthcare in Temple, Texas, said it may be that this may be a risk factor that's less modifiable in subsequent pregnancies, or "they may not have had enough exercise."

Allen said that while exercise during pregnancy is definitely a good idea, these findings might be different if done with a different population. For example, American women are likely more ethnically diverse and have different average body-mass index levels.

But, in any case, Allen said, "Exercise should be encouraged for everyone who's healthy enough to do it. Exercise shouldn't be discontinued just because you're pregnant."

Allen added that research in the United States has also shown that women
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