Looking after yourself and your baby
Exercise during pregnancy
It’s great to be active and stay fit while you’re pregnant.
Check with your doctor or midwife to make sure there are no health problems to prevent you from exercising.
If there are no problems, try to do 30 minutes of moderate exercise (like walking) on most days of the week.
Regular exercise can help you:
- stay at a healthy weight
- relax
- be stronger and fitter – which is good for coping with pregnancy, labour and being a parent
- decrease discomforts like back pain and varicose veins – which can affect some pregnant women.
If you haven’t been physically active before
Pregnancy can increase your risk of injury because your joints loosen up to let your body grow and make it easier to give birth.
You can prevent injury in pregnancy by avoiding high impact exercise like jumping up and down, repetitive bouncing movements, and any movements that over-stretch your hip, knee, ankle or elbow joints.
Stop exercising if you experience:
- dizziness
- vaginal bleeding
- contractions
- pain
- shortness of breath
- decreased baby movements
- “waters are leaking”.
Read more information on pregnancy and exercise.
Pelvic floor exercises
By performing pelvic floor exercises, you can strengthen muscles to help reduce or avoid stress incontinence after pregnancy.
Incontinence is a common but treatable condition – view the video below or visit the Continence Foundation of Australia for more information.
To learn safe exercises, you can download a copy of Pelvic floor health for expectant and new mums from the Continence Foundation of Australia.
One in three women who ever had a baby wet themselves - consumer education video
This video answers the question about why a woman has an increased risk of leaking urine (urinary incontinence) after childbirth. Find out how to prevent this from happening, how to treat the condition and where to get help.
In this guide:
- Healthy eating during pregnancy
- How much weight should I gain?
- Food Safety in pregnancy
- Exercise during pregnancy
- Perineal massage
- Medications, alcohol, and smoking during pregnancy
- Vaccinations during pregnancy
- Infections and precautions in pregnancy