Water exercise is a highly recommended activity to practice during pregnancy. Thanks to weightlessness, water is the best way to tone muscles without exerting too much effort while providing a pleasant sensation.
But also, according to a new study conducted by Brazilian researchers and published in Reproductive Health, moderate exercise during pregnancy significantly reduces the need to receive epidural anesthesia at the time of delivery.
To verify this, a group of future moms who did not exercise normally attended an aqua-aerobics (water aerobics) course in 50-minute sessions 3 times a week.
At the time of giving birth there were no differences regarding the duration and type of delivery, but instead there was a great difference in the proportion of women who requested epidural anesthesia.
Among those who had not done the aqua-aerobics course, 2 out of 3 asked for an epidural during labor, while among those who had attended the course only 27% requested a pain medication.
They deduce that water exercise may have helped to better prepare women for the time of delivery, but not only physically, but also emotionally.
As I mentioned a few days ago in our Special Birth, epidural anesthesia is not without risks, so practicing an exercise that helps relieve labor pains may be an alternative to its application.
I have practiced aqua-aerobics during my first pregnancy and although I have given birth with epidural I highly recommend the type of exercise, because it allows you to do it throughout the pregnancy, avoiding movements too abrupt, and moving in the water is a very light sensation. As scientists say, I think it helps prepare physically and mentally.
