Exercise a good way to ensure a healthy pregnancy even before you get pregnant. It will help in increasing your stamina, controlling your weight gain and making labour easy and less painful. If you have a habit of exercising, choose the right exercise after consulting your healthcare provider. Nowadays tapes are available and you can exercise daily watching them in any kind of weather. But before doing that you should

• Consult your physician about your past pregnancy and the current situation whether it is favourable for any kind of exercise


• Avoid risky sports like jumping, horse riding or skiing


• Exercise regularly and gradually build your stamina


• Always do warm up and then cool down and relax in between


• Your pulse should not be beyond 140 beats per minute


• Be very careful while changing positions during exercise


• Stop exercising immediately if you have abdominal pain, bleeding, loss of fluid or any other serious ailment.

It is a good idea to follow a particular exercise regime even during pregnancy. This will ensure that you are in a better shape after delivery, will help in relieving backache, prevent constipation and varicose veins and help you feel better about yourself. You should not go for a vigorous exercise regime if you have not exercised before but certainly do not think that exercise will hurt your pregnancy in any way. Walking and swimming are excellent forms of exercising. According to Dr Archana Dhawan, a leading gynaecologist based in BLK hospital, New Delhi, the goal of exercise in pregnancy is overall good health, makes you feel better and gives you an emotional boost. In case of complicated pregnancies always consult your doctor before starting or doing any exercise.