Clinically reviewed by What is prenatal exercises
Prenatal exercise means moderate activity during pregnancy, planned around what is safe at each stage. In a normal pregnancy it is recommended, not merely allowed. It reduces back pain, helps you sleep, keeps weight gain sensible and makes recovery after delivery easier.
In Urdu it is hamal mein warzish. The old advice to rest for nine months has gone, because resting through a pregnancy leaves the back, hips and pelvic floor weaker for the part that matters most.
Get your doctor's or gynaecologist's clearance before you start. Some pregnancies genuinely do need rest, and only the doctor managing your pregnancy can tell you that.
Symptoms you might have
- Lower back ache that builds through the day
- Pain at the pubic bone or the back of the pelvis on stairs and turning in bed, which is pelvic girdle pain
- Getting breathless on stairs earlier than you expect
- Leaking a little urine when you cough, sneeze or laugh
- Swollen, heavy legs after standing
- Poor sleep, low energy and stiff hips
- Feeling unsteady, which is normal as the weight shifts forward and matters when choosing exercises
Why it happens
- The baby's weight pulls you forward, so the curve in the lower back increases
- Hormones soften the ligaments of the spine, pelvis and every other joint
- The abdominal muscles stretch and give the back less support
- The pelvic floor carries the baby's weight for months, whatever the type of delivery
- Your heart rate and breathing are higher at rest, so the same work feels harder
- Long hours of floor level housework and standing, added on top of all of this
When you should see a physiotherapist
Come in at any stage, ideally early, for a programme matched to your trimester and to anything that already hurts. Get your doctor's or gynaecologist's clearance before starting exercise, and tell us about any complication in this pregnancy or a previous one.
Do not start or continue exercise without your doctor's specific approval if you have had bleeding, a low lying placenta, a short or weak cervix, a previous preterm delivery, high blood pressure or preeclampsia, twins or more, severe anaemia, or any heart or lung condition.
Stop exercising and get medical care the same day for vaginal bleeding, fluid leaking, regular painful tightening, dizziness or fainting, headache, chest pain, breathlessness before you have started, calf pain or one sided leg swelling, or reduced movements from the baby.
Al-Shama Physiotherapy Clinic
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اپائنٹمنٹ کے بارے میں پوچھیںAppointment ke liye poochein
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یہ فارم پُر کریں؛ واٹس ایپ پر آپ کی تفصیلات کے ساتھ پیغام تیار ہو جائے گا۔Yeh form bharein, WhatsApp aap ki tafseel ke saath khul jaye ga.
How it is treated
A physiotherapy programme in pregnancy is assessment, then teaching, then a short daily routine you can keep up. It is built around what your pregnancy allows, not around a general class.
- Exercise therapy, strengthening for the glutes, deep abdominals, upper back and legs, adjusted at each trimester
- Pelvic floor training, taught with feedback, which reduces leaking both now and after delivery
- Breathing work, so you breathe out through effort instead of holding your breath and pushing down
- Manual therapy, gentle hands on work for a painful back, hip or pelvis, done in side lying
- Posture and movement coaching for standing, lifting, sweeping and getting out of bed
- A maternity support belt where the assessment supports it, worn for activity rather than all day
Electrotherapy, ultrasound, TENS, dry needling and hijama are not used during pregnancy. Exercise is not a substitute for antenatal care. Scans, blood tests, medicines and the delivery plan belong to your doctor.
Exercises, and what to avoid
What helps
- Walking, around thirty minutes a day on most days, broken into shorter walks if easier
- Glute and leg strengthening: supported bridges, side lying leg lifts, sit to stand from a chair, wall sits within comfort
- Daily pelvic floor work, long holds and quick squeezes
- Upper back and shoulder blade work, which eases the neck and upper back later on
What to avoid
- Lying flat on your back for exercise from around the fourth month, and lying face down at any stage
- Sit ups, crunches, planks and any heavy lifting with a held breath
- Anything with a risk of falling or a blow to the abdomen: contact sports, outdoor cycling, climbing on stools
- Exercising in the hottest part of the day, hot yoga, saunas, and pushing past the point where you can still talk
What you can do at home
First trimester: if you were active before, carry on once you are cleared. If you were not, start with ten minutes of walking a day and build up. Nausea and tiredness are real, so work around them.
Second trimester: usually the easiest stage. Stop exercising flat on your back and keep the walking, glute and pelvic floor work going.
Third trimester: reduce the load, not the movement. Balance has changed, so keep both feet on the ground and hold something when you need to.
Use the talk test. If you cannot hold a conversation, you are working too hard. Drink water, and stop if you feel hot, dizzy or breathless.
Any heat pack goes on the lower back for fifteen minutes, never over the abdomen.
How long it takes
Expect to feel better in two to three weeks: easier sleep, less back ache, more energy. Strength takes six to eight weeks of consistent work.
A reasonable target in a normal pregnancy is about one hundred and fifty minutes of moderate activity a week, spread over most days. Thirty minutes of walking most days gets you there.
Keep going for as long as it stays comfortable, which for most women is right up to delivery. The exercises change with each trimester, the habit does not.
What makes the biggest difference afterwards is going into delivery with trained glutes and a trained pelvic floor. That is also what shortens the recovery, so the work done now pays twice.
Urdu / Roman Urdu
Choose your reading script / اپنی پسند کا رسم الخط منتخب کریں
اردوUrdu script
نارمل حمل میں ہلکی ورزش فائدہ مند ہے۔ پورے نو مہینے آرام کرنے سے کمر، کولہے اور پیڑو کے پٹھے کمزور ہو جاتے ہیں۔
ورزش شروع کرنے سے پہلے اپنی خاتون ڈاکٹر سے اجازت لینا ضروری ہے۔ کچھ حمل میں واقعی آرام ضروری ہوتا ہے اور یہ فیصلہ صرف ڈاکٹر کر سکتی ہیں۔
کیا کرنا ہے: روزانہ ٹیس منٹ چلنا، گلوٹ اور پیڑو کے پٹھے کی ورزش۔ کیا نہیں کرنا: چوتھے مہینے کے بعد کمر کے بل لیٹ کر ورزش، بیٹھنا اپس اور پلینکس، بھاری وزن اٹھانا، اور گرنے کے خطرے والا کام۔
فوراً ورزش روک دیں اور ڈاکٹر کے پاس جائیں اگر خون آئے، پانی نکلے، پیٹ میں بار بار سختی ہو، چکر آئیں، سر درد ہو، سانس پھول جائے، یا بچے کی حرکت کم ہو جائے۔
Roman Urdu
Normal hamal mein halki warzish faidemand hai. Poore nau mahine aaram karne se kamar, kolhe aur pelvic floor kamzor ho jate hain.
Warzish shuru karne se pehle apni lady doctor se ijazat lena zaroori hai. Kuch hamal mein waqai aaram zaroori hota hai aur ye faisla sirf doctor kar sakti hain.
Kya karna hai: rozana tees minute chalna, glute aur pelvic floor ki warzish. Kya nahi karna: chauthe mahine ke baad kamar ke bal lait kar warzish, sit ups aur planks, bhari wazan uthana, aur girne ke khatre wala kaam.
Foran warzish rok dein aur doctor ke paas jayen agar khoon aaye, pani nikle, pait mein bar bar sakhti ho, chakkar aayen, sar dard ho, saans phool jaye, ya bachay ki harkat kam ho jaye.
Treatment at the clinic, and online
INFORMATION → INDIVIDUAL CARE
A plan built around you.
Talk with Dr. Zahra Fatima, DPT. Understand your next steps, with guidance for your own symptoms and daily routine.
Talk it through
Discuss your symptoms, what you find difficult and what you want to get back to.
Understand your next steps
Use the consultation to discuss which care and exercises fit your situation.
Take your plan with you
Your online consultation includes a written plan you can refer to afterwards.
Questions people ask
Is it safe to exercise during pregnancy?
How much exercise should I do when pregnant?
Which exercises should I stop in pregnancy?
What are the warning signs to stop exercising?
Is walking enough exercise in pregnancy?
Related conditions
- Pelvic floor weakness and exercises
- Back pain in pregnancy
- Diastasis recti treatment
- Lower back pain in women
- Recovery after a C-section