Exercise Pregnancy Blues Away
About Kelly Brogan
KELLY BROGAN, MD, is a holistic psychiatrist, author of the New York Times Bestselling book, A Mind of Your Own, Own Your Self, the children’s book, A Time For Rain, and co-editor of the landmark textbook Integrative Therapies for Depression.
This article provides information about the potential benefits of exercise not just to pregnant patients but also to their unborn babies.
We are built to move. In addition to a recent study suggesting that vigorous athleticism (professional rugby playing) can alter the microbiome, a new Spanish study has extended the potential benefits of exercise to the pregnant patient. In this study, 184 healthy pregnant women were randomized to 3 one-hour sessions of exercise per week throughout pregnancy.
Significant differences in mood were found between the exercising and non-exercising group as measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D): 7.67 in the exercise group vs. 11.34 in the control group (p = .005) with a lower percentage of depressed patients in the exercise group (12.2 vs 24.7%).
In the context of data supporting the anti-inflammatory, sleep promoting, and mood supportive benefits of yoga, initiating a practice may be in the best interest of mom and baby!
