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similar problems that can be controlled

1 A study reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology suggests that controlled exercise in pregnancy can cut the risks of gestational diabetes — a common pregnancy-associated ailment. The study reveals that women who participated in exercise a year before and during pregnancy were 69 per cent less likely to catch the disorder compared to those who didn’t exercise. 2 According to a report in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, exercise helps combat depression in pregnant women. US researchers, from the Harvard Medical School, have found that pregnant women exercising just 30 minutes a day are significantly less prone to develop it. 3 A study in the American Journal of Public Health says that exercise during pregnancy facilitates an uncomplicated labour. Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine (US) found that women taking part in exercise during pregnancy were more likely to have a hassle-free, efficient and timely labour.

Nagging back pain suffered by thousands of women during pregnancy can be relieved by simple exercises, suggests a recent research reported in the British Medical Journal.

Although back pain? more precisely pelvic girdle pain ? is a common complaint among one out of 35 pregnant woman around the world, there is no cure for the crippling ailment.

Swedish researchers based at East Hospital, Gothenburg (Sweden), aimed at investigating the significance of exercise in the management of back pain in pregnancy. The study led by midwife Helen Elden looked at 386 pregnant women who were suffering from back pain. The patients were split into three groups, with the first receiving a standard home-based care ? education about movements and rest and use of a pelvic belt. The second group got standard care along with acupuncture. And the third received standard care plus stabilisng exercises to improve mobility and strength of pelvic muscles.

The researchers recorded the pain levels in the women every morning and evening for about six months and also at the end of the study. The data revealed that in comparison with conventional treatment exercise led to significantly less back pain.

?Stabilising exercises constituted efficient complements to standard treatment for the management of pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy,? Elden and her colleagues concluded in the paper published in the journal.