Staying fit during pregnancy is an important consideration for zillions of reasons, but it's especially important when it comes to preparing for labour and chidbirth. Just as the name implies, labour involves quite a bit of hard work and is demanding both emotionally and physically, so to give yourself the best chance of labour going smoothly, staying fit during pregnancy really needs to be near the top of your list.

To help me understand the best ways of staying fit during pregnancy, on today's podcast, I'm chatting to Dr Joanna Helcke. Joanna is a multi-award winning pregnancy and postnatal fitness expert, juggling career alongside looking after her three lively boys. So not only is she a leading expert in this field, but as a busy mum-of-three with a career, she also walks the walk!

She runs local pre and post natal fitness classes in the Leicestershire area of the UK, as well as having an online fitness programme through which she helps women all over the world... all this means that Jo is the perfect person to chat to about staying fit during pregnancy... and beyond!

During our chat, we cover things like

what exercises are best for pregnant mums-to-be

how to stay fit when you feel exhausted and have no energy

what you need to look out for when exercising and moving about when pregnant

As well as plenty of other top tips for staying fit during pregnancy. But, one thing that you're going to have to listen to is when we chat about Pelvic Floor exercises. I've always been terrible at doing these, mainly because I found them so damn boring. Well I'm pleased to say that they don't have to be! Joanne shares a great resource for some interesting pelvic floor exercises that mean that you're more likely to actually do them. RESULT! The answer is; do Pfilates! Joanna talks about What is Pfilates? on her blog and her article includes links to get hold of some great videos.

And... we did talk about these little things... weight-lifting gadgets for your pelvic floor!

What are you finding is helping you with staying fit during pregnancy? Are there are any great tips that you'd like to share? Let me know in the comments!