Research was published last week
about the positive effects of exercising during pregnancy on the brains of new-borns.
It is an angle that doesn't often get covered, the focus usually being on the benefits
to the prospective mums, or on the damage you can do to your baby while
exercising. How refreshing to have a positive slant from the babies point of
view.
The scientists gave one group of
moms an exercise programme, where they had to do three sessions a week
exercising at moderate intensity (where they were out of breath). The other
group were told not to exercise.
After birth, as the new-borns
slept on their mums knees with a special electrode cap on their heads, brain
activity was measured. The brains of the babies born to the exercising mums
were better at distinguishing different sounds then the other group. This is an
indication of neurological maturity, or basically an indication that their
brains were better developed. What’s more, studies of toddlers up to 5 years of
age have shown those born to exercising mums had bigger vocabularies and higher
IQs then those born to non-exercising mothers.
This is a victory for exercising
moms-to-be. On a few occasions I was accused of doing too much during my
pregnancy and people said I was selfish and going to harm my baby. Yes I
exercised quite a lot, at one stage during the second trimester I was doing
approximately 10 hours / week. I don’t think everyone should be doing this
much, but I do think the standard recommendation
of 30 minutes 5 times a week is really the bare minimum women should consider. Now
we have research to prove how good it is to get out there and do it not just
for ourselves but for our babies.
Tori is now 17 months old and indeed
already has a broad vocabulary. I tell people it’s because of all the exercise
I did. Only problem is she has also picked up a few inappropriate words, courtesy
of my mother, when Tori was trying something particularly dangerous while she
was babysitting!
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