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Regular exercise throughout pregnancy can shorten the duration of labour, according to the first clinical trial to test the effectiveness of prenatal physical activity. Women who undertook regular aerobic, strengthening, and pelvic floor exercises spent an average of 50 minutes less time in labour.

at the Technical University of Madrid, in Spain, and his colleagues randomly assigned 508 women who were between 9 and 11 weeks鈥� pregnant to receive either general antenatal health counselling or a regular exercise class.

Women in the exercise group took part in three weekly, hour-long classes, which included aerobic activity, muscle strengthening, coordination and balance exercises, stretching and pelvic floor strengthening, as well as relaxation. Those in the counselling group were advised of the health benefits of exercise, but did not attend the same classes.

Shorter labour

Of these women, 325 went on to give birth vaginally. Labour lasted an average of nearly 8 and a half hours in the women who only received counselling, which dropped to 7 and a half hours in the women who鈥檇 exercised.

This may be because labour is easier for women who improve their muscle strength and gain less weight during pregnancy, suggests Barakat.

鈥淟abour and delivery is a very physically taxing event,鈥� says at the University of Iowa. 鈥淚f you are physically stronger, you may have more muscle for the pushing stage.鈥�

Most of the women in the study opted for epidural pain relief, so the team couldn鈥檛 analyse whether exercise makes labour hurt less.

Work any muscle

Barakat recommends that pregnant women undertake activities that are supervised by a trained professional, who can ensure they don鈥檛 over-exert or injure themselves. 鈥淚f you respect these limits, you can do whatever exercise you want, and work any muscle you want,鈥� he says.

A published early this month found that even exercising in warm conditions seems to be safe.

An activity as simple as walking can be beneficial, says Whitaker. 鈥淢ake sure you do enough to get your heart rate elevated,鈥� she says. 鈥淎ny resistance training or pelvic floor exercises would be adding icing to the cake.鈥�

Whitaker hopes that the promise of a shorter labour will provide a strong incentive to get pregnant women exercising. 鈥淲e鈥檙e no longer promoting the idea of resting and putting your feet up,鈥� she says.

Read more: The workout pill: Why exercise is the best medicine