UPDATE Abdominal Exercises During Pregnancy and dueling OBs...

[bisous]

I have read NOTHING that indicates that transverse abdominal exercises (NOT performed while on your back but while sitting cross legged). I have read on "baby" sites that it is a myth that abdominal exercises can cause PTL. I don't know why my OB would say that I can't do these exercises and I'm really inclined not to follow her counsel. Is that bad? Again, I reiterated with her that this is NOT counsel specifically for me and my history of 3 previous c-sections but advice she routinely gives to all women. I've never been in labor naturally and my stomach feels so much better when I am doing transverse exercises. Would it be terribly unwise to continue with them?

TIA!

Jen

xxxxx


Ever heard that they are not advised during a regular pregnancy? I told my second OB about the abdominal exercises I was doing (Julie Tupler's Maternal Fitness program) and she told me I needed to stop! She said that exercising abdominals during pregnancy can cause PTL. I asked her specifically if it is advisable for ME to discontinue ab exercises or for ALL pregnant women to discontinue ab exercises and she said ALL women needed to stop. This is news to me. This also wasn't an issue when I talked to my other OB last week.

What have you heard? If your medical professionals disagree what do you do? Is there any research anyone has read about this? It is definitely the first I've ever heard of it!! I'm going to try to do a search.

One another note, this OB also directly disagreed with my other OB about the practicality of using "natural" family planning methods. The OB I saw two weeks ago said that we can probably safely continue to use natural family planning and seemed to discount my concern at the stage during peri-menopause when things become irregular. She thought it really only applied to women who were obese. On the other hand, the OB I saw today (who continues to pressure me to get a tubal) said that isn't exactly accurate.

I feel caught in the war of the OBs! I'm inclined to follow the one who's advice I like but think I should get more facts. If you have ever been advised about either of these matters, will you let me know what YOUR OB said? Or if you have access to the research will you also clue me in?

THANK YOU!

[bostonsmama]

Funny. I thought the risk of abdominal exercises during pregnancy was diastasis, where your stomach muscles separate. My pilates instructor, however, said she taught pilates up until the day she delivered (41 weeks)! She wasn't a toothpick, either, so it didn't seem like she overdid the whole fitness thing or had incredible genetics. I stopped Pilates right around 19 weeks (I would have gone to 21 had I not gotten pneumonia). I do have a Prenatal Pilates video that I did last pregnancy, but I find that I'm carrying way different this time, and doing any kind of ab work or work on my back makes me feel like I'm choking/suffocating. I still hold plank, which is a wonderful ab workout, and I will do less than 5min of ab work at my BodyVive class propped up on my arms (bicycling legs, full body crunch going back to the elbows/not floor) and pushups. I do prenatal yoga twice a week, and I will do cat/cow (which Dr. Bradley recommends doing 200x/day), sunbird (balancing extension of opposite arm/leg in tabletop--including pulling knee to elbow), rolling from down dog to plank to chatarunga, half cobra to full cobra (great triceps workout), and every other pose good for full-body toning except for camel (back bend with hands on ankles), full boat pose (my yoga instructor won't let me, but sometimes I sneak it in), and really deep twists. My yoga instructor said to avoid those 3 poses, although she said inversions were fine, which baffled me. I have found that with intense/chair pose, I can't do the bind, so I'll either keep my arms by my ears, going into praying hands, and or spread my arms wide instead of a bind, but it's hard to get around the baby belly. The cool thing about yoga is that if you do the "bandhas," where you tighten your abs, pelvic floor and arches of your feet, you will get an intense ab/core workout. It's definitely not like "crunches," which I've seen modified versions of in mainstream pregnancy workout videos, but I think it's good enough to keep you healthy and fit FOR LABOR! :)

I just read Expecting Better by Emily Oster, which is the Freakanomics version of shocking pregnancy statistics your doctor never told you, and she posits that data support exercise during pregnancy leading to more term deliveries, faster deliveries, less inductions and interventions/complications. She never mentioned abs specifically, but she did cite some cool studies about how bedrest had zero statistical effect on rate of preterm labor and benefit to the baby after birth (as in, less complications). So, I would wonder where the true cause/effect science is in that regard. On the other end would be me wondering why doctors don't recommend ab workouts to induce labor, and if traditional/anecdotal evidence suggests that any exercise (particularly walking to induce labor at and post-term) works, then why limit the caution to just abs and not ALL exercise?

Just me thinking aloud.

[Philly Mom]

Well, with regards to the "family planning" aspect, I think your second OB is correct. If you are trying to avoid a pregnancy, and if I remember correctly it is a safety issue for you, then natural family planning methods do not work that well. I know lots of kids born that way. As for the ab exercise, there is specific prenatal yoga and pilates classes that people can take. I would assume with the abs it may be a problem if this is new vs something you were doing well before pregnancy and just continue through pregnancy. I know for me, with my first pregnancy, if I did anything that was remotely more than I had been doing, I had a bleed, including merely sweeping snow off my car. I assumed that part of the problem was that my body was not that used to it and it was an additional tax on it.

[cvanbrunt]

Maybe the OB thinks all ab exercises are done supine? If that is her thinking then she's right. But there's plenty of abs without lying on your back.

[AnnieW625]

With DD1 it was very hard to do any kind of ab work because I carried her so low (I had placenta previa until I was about 30-32 weeks pregnant). I did yoga the entire time I was pregnant with her and I slept on my right side the entire time too. I think with DD2 I probably stopped ab exercises around 15-18 weeks, but continued yoga until the week before she was born (class was on a Thursday night). I slept on my right side the entire time with her too.

Remember even though Kaiser is super liberal about things like breast feeding and what not they are still sort of super behind on somethings. I would continue doing the Tupler techniques until it becomes too painful to do it.

[gymnbomb]

My midwife said that after about 20 weeks she did not recommend exercises that require laying on your back or a lot of ab work -- since I'm only 16 weeks I haven't pressed about what non-supine lower intensity ab things might be ok.

[bisous]

I asked specifically about whether that referred to exercises done while lying on the back and she said no ALL abdominal exercises are not advised! i told her I basically sit cross legged against a wall and contract my transverse abs--no crunches or situps of any kind and she said no way! I had NEVER heard this and it sounds to me like many of you haven't either! Bostonsmama I want to read that book! I think I'll see if it is available at my library.

[bisous]

bumping for update because I'd love opinions!

[specialp]

I have no advice on exercises as I was on bedrest. But I did have 2 doctors differ on something both telling me that "studies show" so I just asked them to point me in the direction of the medical studies so I could read them for myself before making my decision. (I'm good at researching & could find on my own if they pointed me in the right direction so it wasn't like I was asking for a citation). One was able to, the other wasn't (and wasn't all too happy to be asked). Now, my issue had to do with a medication during pregnancy, but the point is you can ask if they have something you can read to help you make your decision.

[gymnbomb]

Here's a free access medical review article on the subject of exercise during pregnancy. It does not specifically address abdominal exercises (other than those done supine in later pregnancy), but certainly does not include them on the "to avoid" list either.

http://www.aafp.org/afp/1998/0415/p1846.html

[bisous]

Thank you for the replies and for the article linked! I would think it would have said something about abdominal exercises if it were a problem. My OB has been practicing for many years. I wonder if she is either going by an older recommendation OR if she is using her anecdotal experience. I am going to continue to do gentle transverse abdominal exercises. If I feel an increase in contractions of course I will totally stop!