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Active living: keeping active during and after pregnancy

Being safe

It is safe for healthy women having healthy pregnancies to be active during pregnancy. However, women should not be active if they experience the conditions below.

It is NOT SAFE to be physically active when:

• your waters have broken
• you have high blood pressure
• your baby's growth is causing concern
• you have problems with your cervix staying closed ('incompetent cervix')
• you are expecting triplets or more
• your placenta is lying over the cervix (placenta praevia) after 28 weeks
• you have persistent bleeding at any time after three months of pregnancy
• you have uncontrolled type 1 diabetes, thyroid disease, heart or breathing problems.

Similarly, if you experience any of the following when active you should stop immediately and contact your doctor.

You should STOP activity IMMEDIATELY if you:

• feel any pain or discomfort
• experience any vaginal bleeding
• feel dizzy or faint
• find the activity difficult or feel breathless
• feel your heart beating rapidly
• feel any contractions.

There are also some conditions listed below that might cause some concern. Don’t automatically rule out activity but consult your doctor or midwife to discuss your particular circumstances.

Discuss activity with your doctor or midwife if you have:

• had a previous pre-term birth
• a history of any previous heart condition
• a history of any previous respiratory condition
• anaemia
• an eating disorder
• twin pregnancy after the 28th week
• any other significant medical condition.