Online workouts for pregnant women and new mums

6 May 2020 03:27 PM

The new workouts come at a time when our research shows some adults in England are doing less physical activity than they normally would during the lockdown.

We’ve teamed up with ukactive to launch a series of online workouts to help pregnant woman and new mums be physically active at home.

From yoga and Pilates videos you can follow, to videos focusing on general fitness, the This Mum Moves workouts are perfect for antenatal and postnatal women. 

ukactive has developed the new website at a time when our own research commissioned from Savanta ComRes is showing that some adults in England, particularly women, are doing less physical activity during the current lockdown than they normally would, despite more than half of adults saying it's more important to be active now.

A pregnant woman doing yoga.

The workouts on This Mum Moves, which we’ve supported with National Lottery funding, have been reviewed by a panel of experts, including fitness and exercise professionals, and academics from Canterbury Christ Church University and Aston University with expertise in pregnancy, the postpartum period and physical activity. 

These experts will review the content periodically so that it can grow over time, with women encouraged to help shape the site.

Rachel Lawson, project manager at ukactive, said: “We hope that this bespoke resource will help more pregnant women and new mums to feel comfortable and confident about trying these activities at home.

“Not only will this website help women to have fun being active while keeping both mother and baby physically healthy, it has the potential to improve mood and wellbeing, which we want to celebrate as part of Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week.”

This Mum Moves has also been developed to provide healthcare professionals with tools and training to deliver clear, consistent and confident messages about physical activity.

Women can often feel unsure about which activities and moves are safe to do. This guidance is a way to address these concerns and encourage women to get active in a way that works for them

Kate Dale

Join the Movement campaign lead

The UK Chief Medical Officer recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity every week and engaging in muscle strengthening activities twice per week throughout pregnancy – citing benefits from helping to reduce blood pressure problems, to improved sleep and mood, control of weight gain, and prevention of diabetes in pregnancy.

The new workouts form part of our Join the Movement campaign, which was launched in March to help people get and stay active at a time when we’re all staying at home a lot more. It encourages people to share how they’re getting active using #StayInWorkOut.

Kate Dale, our Join the Movement campaign lead, yesterday said:

“Often, women can feel unsure about which activities and moves are safe to do and the guidance from This Mum Moves is a way to address these concerns and encourage women to get active in a way that works for them.”

Visit the This Mum Moves site