Pioneering new research shows that these babies have significantly lower heart rates when their mothers do regular aerobic exercise during pregnancy.
And researchers believe that ‘womb workouts’ have health benefits that continue into adulthood, lowering the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and hypertension decades later.
The heart is a muscle and, like other muscles, becomes stronger through conditioning. And if it is stronger, the heart rate will drop, so that the heart puts less effort into pumping the same amount of blood.
Increasing evidence shows that the womb environment influences foetal development and suggests susceptibility to various diseases and disorders can be determined in utero.
Thus far, research has centred on nutrition (such as smoking being detrimental to foetal health), and research on exercise during pregnancy has focused on maternal benefits. However, in a new study, researchers examined the effects of aerobic exercise on the developing foetal heart.
Magnetocardiograms, which measured the foetal heart rate through sensors placed on the skin, were used in the research based on 61 healthy, pregnant women aged 21 to 35. Half the women exercised and half did not. Results show substantial differences in foetal heart rate between the two groups.
The differences increased over time. At 36 weeks, the heart rate, when the foetus was active, was 136 beats per minute in the exercise group and 148 in the other group.
Exactly how maternal exercise shapes the foetal heart is not clear. But one theory is that the development of the foetal autonomic nervous system is boosted by exposure to maternal hormones and other compounds released during exercise.
[Source]
Chapter: Pregnancy :: 11 June 2010
