Helping you to move more and be active in pregnancy and as a new mum

Being active during your pregnancy and after your baby has been born brings with it lots of benefits. The more active you are in pregnancy, the better you’re likely to feel about your body during pregnancy, labour and after birth.

However, understandably, many pregnant women and new mums with a child under the age of one experience nervousness and anxiety around physical activity.

Research has found that one of the main concerns is the anxiety surrounding what is and isn’t safe to do when you are pregnant, however being active during pregnancy and postnatally can be really good for your health.

You can speak to your midwife, GP or trained health professional if you are unsure about what physical activity you can and cannot do during pregnancy, as well as finding more information about exercise in pregnancy on the NHS website.

To help support you in getting active during pregnancy and beyond, here you will find lots of resources, including links to leisure centres, parks, and outside spaces on our service finder, as well as links to other websites for further support and advice.

Getting active around Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland

We’ve added a number of service types to our online service directory to help you find outdoor gyms, leisure centres and parks and outside spaces that are close to you:

Find our nearest by simply adding your postcode after clicking the links:

• Outdoor gyms
• Leisure centres
• Parks and open spaces

You can also find a wide range of information and activities on the Active Leicester website. Active Leicester provides a wide range of services to help women become or remain active, during and after pregnancy in Leicester. Pop into your local leisure centre to find out more or contact them at Active@leicester.gov.uk

Further local resources include:

• MyChoice online local directory
• Live Well Leicester
• Get active- Leicestershire County Council
• Active Together
• Active Rutland

Exercise in pregnancy advice on Health for Under 5s

We have created a number of posts around being active in pregnancy and beyond, which are available on Health for Under 5s. Take a look by clicking the links below:

• Exercising during pregnancy
• 3 pregnancy exercises to try for a healthy body
• Let’s move more

Further nationally available resources

More resources to support you in getting active during pregnancy and as a new mum are below:

• Active Pregnancy Foundation- Find your active
• Active Pregnancy Foundation- Pregnancy CMO Guidelines
• Active Pregnancy Foundation- This Mum Moves
• Moving Medicine- Being active during pregnancy is important
• Moving Medicine- Being active after pregnancy is important
• Sport England- This Girl Can