Exercise can help strengthen muscles used in labor and delivery and lessen some of the discomforts of pregnancy. It may give you more energy and make you feel better. The type of exercise you can do during pregnancy depends on your health and how active you were before you became pregnant.

This is not a good time to take up a new, hard sport. If you were active before, you can continue to be within reason. If, for example, you play tennis, you can still play unless you have special problems or feel very tired. A good idea is to limit exertion to about 2/3 of what you could do before pregnancy.

Most of the time, a healthy woman with no complications in her pregnancy can keep working until the end of her pregnancy. Some may need to make some changes. If you are experiencing problems that you feel may be related to your job, please discuss this at one of your office appointments.

Your family should be able to help you at home as fatigue increases at the end of your pregnancy.