ABSTRACT
Many women who are active prior to their pregnancy desire to stay active throughout their pregnancy. With an increasing frequency, women are turning to their physicians for advice about exercising during their pregnancy and postpartum. Unfortunately, exercise standards for prescribing exercise during pregnancy are vague. They are based primarily on common sense and intuition. Furthermore, research is lacking on the effects of exercise during pregnancy and postpartum. Women have been forced to turn to nonprofessionals for advice about exercise (e.g., the “personal trainer”). Therefore, the medical basis for an exercise prescription during pregnancy is often inappropriate, inaccurate, or incomplete.
