Pregnancy Exercises for Pre, During and Post-Pregnancy

A strong & healthy body is important for your overall health including when you’re trying to get pregnant. Here are some exercises to do when hoping to conceive, while pregnant, & after the birth.  This blog post will also discuss how cord blood banking is a healthy choice for families too, and why HealthBanks’ cord blood prices are affordable.

Pre-Pregnancy Exercises

Exercises that build up stamina, improve muscle tone & increase bone density are ideal during this phase. Stamina & lung capacity will be needed for the third trimester & the labor, muscle tone can help carry the extra baby weight & high bone density helps guard against pregnancy & lactation-associated osteoporosis (PLO).

Activities to consider:

• Weightlifting
• Running/walking
• Plyometrics
• Yoga
• Swimming
• Cycling

Exercises During Pregnancy

When pregnant, it is important to first discuss your exercise routine with your doctor. If the pregnancy is high risk or there are other health factors (such as anemia), you may be advised to avoid certain exercises. Generally speaking, exercises that are low impact, medium resistance & have a low fall risk are ideal. As the trimesters progress, it is important to keep an eye on your heart rate, exhaustion, balance & joints as you exercise. Stop if you feel faint, dehydrated or sore.

Activities to consider:

• Walking
• Swimming
• Low impact aerobics
• Yoga with poses adapted for pregnancy
• Medium-weight dumbbell & barbell workouts
• Stretching-band workouts

Post-pregnancy exercises

Before you exercise after giving birth, speak with your doctor.  Your body needs time to rest & heal; the general wait time after birth with no complications is six weeks. However, every pregnancy journey is different so your doctor may need you to wait eight weeks or longer.  When you’re ready, it’s important to ease back into exercise. Your body has been through a lot.  Start with gentle, light exercises that focus on stretching your muscles, ligaments, tendons while avoiding anything that puts too much strain on the pelvic floor or core.

Activities to consider:

• Kegels
• Walking
• Light Jogging
• Stairmasters
• Stability ball exercises
• Yoga stretches
• Seated bicep curls
• Shoulder presses
• Planks

Why is Cord Blood Banking a Healthy Choice?

Exercise is a healthy choice, but it is not the only decision needed for lifelong well-being. We must take care of ourselves in other ways too & cord blood banking can be a part of that for your baby.

Cord blood comes from a newborn’s umbilical cord. This blood is a very rich source of stem cells which can change into other types of cells. Currently, stem cells from cord blood can help treat over 80 diseases including some forms of cancer.

Cord blood banking with HealthBanks is simple & affordable. Simply call or visit us online to enroll.  Once enrolled, we’ll send you your collection kit.  After giving birth, your delivery team can collect your baby’s samples & have our optional couriers pick it up from the hospital.  Once we receive your collected samples, we then process & store the cells so they are available to your child for future use.

What are Cord Blood Banking Prices?

HealthBanks is committed to ensuring all familes have access to cord blood banking.  Our packages are affordable because we invested in our own in-house laboratory, automated blood processing, & state-of-the-art cryogenic storage tanks to make the process simple & affordable. Our cord blood banking prices start at just $19.99 with $150 processing with many other package options available for those that also want to bank cord tissue or mesenchymal stem cells in addition to cord blood banking.

Cord blood banking prices are affordable at HealthBanks. Contact us today to enroll or learn more.

You have protected your child for nine months inside the womb. Continue to protect them for life with cord blood banking.  If our team can help answer questions about cord blood banking including pricing, package options, our FDA registered facility or our on-site AABB-accredited laboratory, please reach out to us.

Reviewed by Paul V. Holland, MD