Exercise During Pregnancy: The Evidence on Benefits vs Risks

Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

Many people believe that exercise during pregnancy is detrimental to the health of the fetus. This belief seems to have come from an outdated study that the fetus’s heart rate drops if the mother exercises. More recent studies, however, have supported a counterposition that exercise during pregnancy is safe and can actually be beneficial for both the mother and fetus. Join Dr. Matt Birnholz and Dr. Linda Szymanski, Medical Director of Labor and Delivery at Johns Hopkins Hospital at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. They discuss the latest research on exercise during pregnancy, from benefits to harms, and how clinicians can counsel patients on the "right" amount of exercise during this life period.