There are many, I would say, the majority, women who would want to give birth with a vaginal delivery, precisely because it is the most advisable for the health of the mother and the baby.
It seems, however, that it is something that escapes the control of the woman, who simply goes to the Hospital with that hope, knowing that in some cases the delivery is complicated and a caesarean section is finished. Now, however, a recent study says that yes there is something that can be done to reduce the risk of having a cesarean delivery: exercise during pregnancy.
How did they do the study
The study was carried out in Granada, bringing together several professionals from Madrid and Granada with graduates in Sports Science, who devised a training program for pregnant women who did not do sport beforehand.
It was made about 510 women who recognized being relatively sedentary. They practiced less than 20 minutes of exercise three days a week. They divided all the women into two groups. One of them, formed by 255 women, received the indication of practice 55 minutes of aerobic exercise, stretching and flexibility exercises three days a week, during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. The other group, the control group, formed by the remaining 255 women, received the usual recommendations, without specifically affecting an exercise program.
Less macrosomic children and fewer caesarean sections
The initial objective of the study was to assess how exercise affected women when suffering from gestational diabetes mellitus. The results showed that the incidence did not vary and that, in the absence of further studies on it, it does not seem that exercise can serve to prevent the disease.
However, they did see changes in other factors they studied, which are the ones discussed in this post. The results showed that women who exercised according to the indicated guidelines had less macrosomic children (children with high weight), with a reduction of 58%.
Regarding the cesarean section rate, they saw that the group of women who exercised reduced the risk of having a birth by elective caesarean section by 34%. These women also gained 12% less weight than those in the control group.
So you know, it seems that what nature expects, what is best for a woman's body, is to move, exercise, not sit still waiting at the time of delivery, move the muscles, strengthen them, give them elasticity, ... yes all this serves to increase the chances of having a normal birth, to exercise has been said. Also, if you exercise, you will have a better physical condition after giving birth, when the baby can physically and mentally deplete anyone (yes, that many only eat and sleep, but many others are more demanding and need care and attention at all hours).
