Others change to a new bike, such as keen road cyclist Rhiannon Hedge, who lives in Cardiff. Deignan says she uses the same bike but has raised the handlebars and tilted the stem to accommodate her changing shape. These differences extend to comfort on the bike. “It isn’t useful to compare because every pregnancy and every mother is different.” I have learnt that baby is in charge, and I have to respect what my pregnancy is telling me. As Deignan says: “With my daughter, I had nausea for the first 12 weeks and this time round I’ve had nausea for 18 weeks and I have been much more tired and less able to ride my bike. Indeed, every pregnancy, and every woman, is different. “There were definitely days when I turned around after five minutes because I felt too fatigued or it wasn’t right, but every day was different,” she says. Deignan continued cycling the same routes during pregnancy, just slower. It also moved the uncomfortable fluid build-up around. Like many women, she found cycling more comfortable than walking. Time de Waele / Getty Imagesĭeignan says specific athlete-related advice was hard to find during her first pregnancy, so she just trusted her own instinct. Lizzie Deignan found athlete-related advice hard to come by during her first pregnancy. “For my wife this meant choosing routes that she felt more comfortable on, riding with people she knew well, and avoiding trickier conditions such as icy roads.”ĭr Douglas says that, from his time working in maternity wards as a junior doctor, he learnt how well protected babies are: “In reality, we probably overestimate the risk,” he concludes. He adds that for some people, the perceived risk of injury, from falling off or being hit by a car, can be a big concern. “It isn’t much use if you are already an active person, skilled at a particular sport, or used to training and racing, and can be alarming and discouraging.” She adds that this can put many women off, and many don’t return to cycling after a long break and a big life change.Īs Dr Douglas says: “For a regular cyclist who becomes pregnant, I would encourage her to keep cycling, and work with her to come up with an individualised plan about how best to continue.” “It urges caution and is packed with disclaimers that make it easy to think that the most normal things are an unnecessary risk,” says Clark. She says official advice usually encourages only gentle exercise, and it can be disquieting. Kelly Clark, head of National Cycle Network in London at Sustrans, was commuting around 60 miles a week by bike before her first pregnancy, as well as longer half-day or full-day road or mountain bike rides. The National Childbirth Trust (NCT) website currently lists numerous advantages, from helping to reduce high blood pressure and lowering the risk of pre-eclampsia (a pregnancy complication) to shortening the length of labour and improving the likelihood of a straightforward labour and recovery. The benefits of exercising while pregnant are, of course, many. There are many benefits of cycling while pregnant. “A lot of it was evidence-based advice for exercise in pregnancy, such as Jessica Ennis-Hill’s blog and the Bump it Up book by Professor Greg Whyte.” Benefits of exercising while pregnant “It was inclusive from the elite athlete perspective through to beginner cyclists,” says Dr Douglas. The NHS advises consulting your maternity team if in doubt.ĭr Douglas says cycling role models and athletes such as Sarah Storey, Deignan and Laura Kenny were a helpful source of advice and support for Rebecca through social media. Falls carry a risk of damage to your baby.”Īs for intensity? “Do not exhaust yourself” and “As a general rule, you should be able to hold a conversation as you exercise when pregnant”. Indeed, the NHS website offers a page of generic ‘Exercise in pregnancy’ advice, including “Keep up your normal exercise for as long as you feel comfortable” and “Exercises that have a risk of falling, such as horse riding, downhill skiing, ice hockey, gymnastics and cycling, should only be done with caution. “I have knowledge and training in it from my job as a GP, but otherwise the information from most sources, such as midwives, GPs and pregnancy booklets, is fairly limited,” he admits. Sheffield-based GP Dr Andy Douglas, whose wife Rebecca Douglas continued cycling during her pregnancy in 2021 – including cycling to her scans – says there is a lack of advice around exercise, and specifically cycling, during pregnancy.
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