Pregnancy and beyond, introducing my journey.

Isn't the human body amazing.

My interest led me to my current profession, however, even I must admit my mind has been BLOWN by my own personal journey throughout pregnancy and now postnatally too.

For my blog I thought i'd share my journey in pregnancy and on returning to sport postnatally, it may be slightly convoluted & digress at times, but bear with me. Let me be clear i'm no professional athlete (I wish!), but I do enjoy running slightly more than the average person. I kept my running journey going until I was 35 weeks pregnant, it's one of the reasons I became so avidly interested in women's health - I was determined to continue training and wanted up -to-date evidence based advice.

My hunt for evidence based advice lead me to the podcast "At your Cervix". Something I'd highly recommend listening to during pregnancy & beyond, regardless of your activity levels - it's hosted by two women's health physio's who are top of their field and full of great advice.

For me personally, I had to balance the potential increased stress on my pelvic floor due to running, with my mental health. Since being quite young i've used running as a way to manage anxiety and stress.

Being active helped me to manage my own feelings of worry, or anxiety; especially regarding the baby’s health - pregnancy is such a funny time, you're overjoyed, but filled such conflicting emotions, such as worry about your growing baby and a sense of loss of control.

So started my research journey, from reading around exercise and pregnancy - I understood that exercising during pregnancy benefits both the foetus and the mother. I'd had surprising reactions, when i'd expressed my desire to keep training, even from other healthcare professionals.

Once upon a time we would have been told to "put our feet up", and we wouldn't have known or understood any better. However, in todays world pregnancy looks a lot different. The American College of Obstetricians and gynaecologists recommends women should ideally get at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity a week and the 2022 Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health reports positive health attributes associated with exercising.

They state that regular physical activity levels during pregnancy are associated with lower weight gain, reduced risk of GDM (gestational diabetes), protection for the mother against preeclampsia and may also help to reduce birth complications. In addition research has shown that the baby may be positively influenced throughout different stages of childhood development, with some studies showing cognitive improvements at 8 months, 12 months, 2 years and 3 years.

Obviously this is with the caveat of having a pregnancy, free of complications, and I must stress I had been a runner for many years, I wouldn't recommended this as a time to take on a whole new sport. But doing 150 minutes or more of an exercise you enjoy can have amazingly positive effects for you and your baby.

That said, as women we have to look after a lesser spoken about muscle group, our pelvic floor. You may or may not have heard of your pelvic floor, or that it can become "dysfunctional". That's only in older women, right? Wrong, sadly. Often us women are made to believe leakage is normal, or it becomes a taboo type subject. The pelvic floor is a group of muscles, located in the pelvis, they support and act as a sling to the pelvic organs; bowel and bladder, and in us females the uterus and vagina too. Hormonal changes during pregnancy and increased downwards pressure place the pelvic floor under stress and strain.

Particularly in my chosen sport, I had to mitigate against the downward forces having possible negative effects on my pelvic floor health. I did this via making adaptations, especially as the pregnancy went on. Some changes I made to decrease the stress on my pelvic floor;

• No downhill running (although I did 'treat" myself to a hilly run at my friends hen-do, as a one-off!)

• Running on a treadmill, to decrease impact.

• Interval training (1 min walk, 2 minute run - etc)

• Increased my strength training - especially when I could no longer run distances, it was a new venture & one i'm happy to say stayed.

• I treated myself with compassion & realised my body is doing an amazing job at growing a human.

• Listened to my body and gave myself rest days when I felt my body needed it.

• Added in hikes/ long walks as opposed to a run.

• At 35 weeks I started swimming- highly recommend - most amazing feeling when you feel at your heaviest.

• Fuelled up and stayed hydrated. I made sure I had ample supplies of water & food.

• Avoided exercises which put additional strain on intrabdominal pressure; such as pull-ups.

• I slowed down and became one of those girls who watches netflix on the treadmill (and enjoyed it! Whole series of Gossip Girl, thank you).

• Monitored symptoms and deceased loading where necessary, due to hormonal fluctuations, some days were worse than others.

I'm hugely aware that running may not be everybody's thing, and that some women may also not have a smooth sailing pregnancy,and couldn't be active even if they wanted to. The aim of this blog is to discuss real relatable topics, some of which are often deemed taboo or embarrassing, myth bust and hopefully offer tips/ advice around the subjects.

During this introduction i've eluded to a few subjects, which i'll explore further in future posts; whilst candidly sharing with you my own personal journey.

I hope you enjoyed this first read,

Gemma x

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