Here's an article in today's New York Times that confirms what I suspected when I was pregnant: the medical establishment has no real clue about how much & what kind of exercise is safe during pregnancy, so doctors tend to give arbitrary advice (often framed as Fact) that errs on the side of conservatism. Here's the full story:

FWIW, I continued to lift through my pregnancy, up to about the beginning of month 8. At that point, my belly just got too unwieldy, so I shifted to moderate cardio 3-4 times a week. By the very end, this had tapered off to light cardio.

I credit exercise w/ giving me the strength for a completely natural child birth, and for speeding my recovery and fat loss post-partum. Of course, it could have been something else instead -- that's the nature of anecdotal evidence!

Kim

Jen Heath (there's an article about muffin top to abs of steel or something at the top of the "Exercise" section) talked about working out during pregnancy when she was first interviewed for a podcast I listen to called "The Fit Cast". She said she, too, worked out with both her pregnancies (one with a single child, the other with twins) up until the 8th month. She lifted and did some cardio, with no negative effects. She talked about it more specifically...but I've never been (and never plan to be) a mother, so I didn't pay too much attention to the details She also talks about weight gain during prenancy, and how women tend to go overboard with the whole "eating for two" thing.

Good for you, Kim! Your abs of steel are totally a motivation for me. I don't know if I want to have abs that defined, but something close would be nice! And if you can look that ripped after having a kid and being close to 40, damnit, I can, too!

I had to deal with clueless people during my pregnancy. The first Curves I joined said there was no problem that I was pregnant. They took my money, allowed me to exercise for a month and collected the first monthly fee, THEN told me their insurance said I needed a doctor's excuse. Well, my doctor didn't want to put his name to anything. He wanted to know what kind of exercise it was, but since I was a former (LONG ago) heart surgery patient, he wanted to wait until the cardiologist saw me (MONTHS down the line). Cardiologist agreed with the doctor from 76 who actually did my surgery...said I was STILL fine. It's just that my OBGYN didn't wanna put his name on anything.

Sad to say, for THAT Curves location anywho, they lost my money. I transferred to one down the road that DIDN'T need my doctor's permission, and exercised up until the point where I thought I was carrying around a bowling ball in my tummy that was pulling me towards the ground. Gravity took over and I took to bed for the last month. LOL

I had an extremely uneventful pregnancy, no complications, nothing. And for a 40 yo, that's fairly unusual. I managed to drop my weight back down quickly afterwards too. I think that the continued exercise helped with both of those.

Kim, just out of curiosity, can a person do abdominal work while she's pregnant? Is it even a physical possibility after the first couple of months?

I have a funny visual...