Swimming for Pregnancy Fitness? Uncover the Hidden Risks of this Pregnancy Exercise that NO-ONE Will Tell You!

When you think about pregnancy exercise there are a few things that immediately spring to mind as safe forms of pregnancy exercise.  If you surveyed 100 pregnant woman and asked them what they would consider a safe form of pregnancy exercise, the top answers would probably be walking, yoga and swimming.

In fact, swimming is the one form of pregnancy exercise that you never hear anything bad about and with good reason! Swimming during pregnancy has several benefits for your pregnant body that you won’t get from any other form of pregnancy exercise.

One of the best things about it, is that the water creates a near weightless environment, providing a safe place for you to work out large muscle groups and the cardiovascular system, with very little risk of injury.

Swimming during pregnancy is also great for increasing maternal aerobic capacity. This means that your body will be able to transport oxygen more effectively to working muscles, enhancing the performance of your muscles and getting much better results from your pregnancy workout.

The other thing that keeps pregnant women coming back for more is that it really helps to relieve nausea and morning sickness.

But there are a few things you need to know before you go diving in the pool that your professional care team WON’T tell you.

1. Breast isn’t always best!

Most women opt for breast stroke as their stroke of choice, considering it to be the gentlest of the swimming strokes. It also works to encourage good alignment in the torso, by working the chest while encouraging you to pull back your shoulders.

However, if you do breaststroke properly, you will notice that as you lift your head to come out of the water and breathe, you create an overly extended arch in your lower back. This creates even more pressure on an area that is already under strain from your pregnant posture, which is a big indictaor for pregnancy back pain.

Breaststroke legs are not suitable for pregnancy. During your pregnancy you pelvic ligaments become very soft, and the joints can be easily overstreched by  force of the the backstroke kick.

In addition, the positioning of the legs in breaststroke will encourage the pubic joint at the front to separate in preparation for birth and injury can lead to Pubis Symphysis Disorder and Round Ligament Pain.

2. Back stroke

As you know, you need to be careful with lying on your back during pregnancy and this includes swimming. Swimming on your back for any length of time after 16 weeks could prove to be very uncomfortable as the weight of the uterus puts pressure on the vena cava.

If you do experience any discomfort you should avoid this stroke completely.

3. Acid indigestion and reflux

It is best not to eat anything for 2 hours prior to swimming to avoid acid indigestion and gastric reflux, especially in the third trimester.

Tumble turns will also aggravate this, (although this is practically impossible when you get bigger anyway!)

4. Choose a chemical free pool where possible

There has been some recent press about the dangers of uptake of chloroform by pregnant women swimming in chlorinated pools. In tests, pools were found to have “relatively high” levels of the disinfectant by-products which have been linked to reproductive problems.

A one hour swim was found to give a chloroform dose 141 times higher than a 10 minute shower.

However further research needs to be done on this and until a wide-scale population study has been conducted this is not conclusive evidence against the use of chlorinated pools by pregnant women.

How to have a great, safe pregnancy swim workout.

1. Choose a stroke that won’t put pressure on your pregnant body. Front Crawl is great for a higher intensity pregnancy workout.
2. If you need a resting stroke for intervals try using a snorkel with breast stroke arms so that you don’t have to keep bobbing your head out of the water and putting pressure on your lower back, whilst using front crawl legs to propel you.
3. Have a light snack a couple of hours before you enter the pool
4. If you have access to a chemical free pool in your area then use it, (but don’t worry too much, I swam in a chlorinated pool twice a week and had no problems whatsoever)
5. Always shower and wash your hair immediately after leaving the pool to reduce uptake of chemicals into your bloodstream

For a pregnancy swimming workout you can use as part of your pregnancy fitness program visit my Facebook page - but ya gotta be my friend cos it’s posted on my profile!

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