3 Ways that Baby Benefits from Exercise during Pregnancy

At 16 weeks, I not only know that I'm having a baby boy (who we plan to name Christian Sutton Sinclair) but I can feel the little flutters of my boy moving around in my belly. He is such a miracle! I'm truly feeling so special, but haven't really loved being pregnant like I hear from so many other women. I guess I just don't like feeling limited. I don't like being babied, I don't like to baby myself and I'm really starting to miss my higher intensity workouts!

With that being said, I am so fortunate to be able to workout nearly every day of my pregnancy. Apart from keeping up my energy and helping me to sleep at night, I've discovered three ways that exercise benefits not only myself, but the growing baby inside me! Now that's some serious motivation....

• Boosts Brain Power: A new study showed that regular prenatal exercise actually boosts baby’s brain development. Researchers discovered that babies born to mothers who exercised at least 20 minutes a day showed more mature cerebral activation, suggesting that their brains had developed more rapidly. (source)

• Healthier Birth Weight: Women who exercise regularly during pregnancy are more likely to give birth to babies with a lower, but healthier, birth weight. That could set up the child for a healthier life, since a too-high birth weight is an indicator of childhood obesity. (source)

• Healthier Heart: Exercise during pregnancy benefits not just the mother's heart, but her baby's heart as well. Studies show regular exercise during pregnancy lowers the heart rate of the fetus, and this effect persists for a month after the baby is born. A low heart rate indicates that the baby's heart is healthy. (source)

So, to all you mothers to be out there... unless you're advised not to workout by your doctor, you have no excuse to skip out on exercising during pregnancy. Your baby is depending on you!