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| |    Helping Your Pregnant Partner Get the Exercise She Needs by Armin Brott reviewed and revised by Marjorie Greenfield, M.D. Encouraging your pregnant partner to exercise regularly may well be one of your most important duties right now. Exercise can improve her circulation and keep her energy level and spirits high. It can help her maintain a steady and reasonable weight gain, allow her to sleep better, improve her self-esteem, and reduce some of the normal pregnancy-related discomforts. It'll also improve her strength and endurance-a definite plus during labor and delivery-and may even reduce the chance that she'll need a c-section. OK, so you're sold on the importance of exercise. And if your partner already was working out regularly before she got pregnant, she probably won't need a whole lot of extra encouragement. But if all she feels like doing is lying around the house and eating pints of mint-chocolate-chip ice cream, you've got a problem. This is hardly the time to get her jazzed about running a marathon, but you should try to lure her off the couch. Do it together Sure, you can encourage your partner to join a prenatal exercise class or buy her some inspirational videos, but one of the best ways you can help is by working out with her. (Hey, a few extra minutes of heavy breathing might do you some good, too.) Sports you can do together include: speed walking or even running, if she's already in shape; cycling (but stay away from overly bumpy mountain-bike rides); swimming; tennis; light weight-lifting; golf; and yoga (but skip the extreme stretches). Whatever exercise routine the two of you settle on, you'll increase its benefit and reduce the chance of getting injured if you exercise regularly-three times a week or more-rather than sporadically. Not all sports were created equal At the same time, the two of you (or at least she) should stay away from any kind of exercise or activity where there's a chance she could take a hard fall, such as horseback riding, bicycling, and downhill skiing. Scuba diving and water-skiing also aren't great ideas, as highly pressurized water can be squeezed through the vagina and cervix into the uterus. Heavy lifting, which can put too much pressure on internal organs, is out, as is anything that's too exhausting. One good gauge: She should be able to get through a normal conversation without wheezing and gasping. If she can't, she's working too hard. Proceed with caution If your wife did any of these things before knowing she was pregnant, don't worry. First of all, there's nothing you can do about it now, and, second, there's really not that much of a chance that anything she did early on will hurt the baby. Just be careful from here on out. And before starting any kind of workout program, discuss the details with your wife's healthcare practitioner and get his approval. If you're doing anything that'll work up a sweat, be sure to get enough fluids. Both of you should drink a cup or so of water an hour before starting, and another four to eight ounces every 15 to 20 minutes while you're working out.
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