“I do pregnancy fitness classes because they lift my mood and give me energy.”
By Leila, 28, from Aigburth, Liverpool
Leila started being active to help keep unnecessary weight off during pregnancy and to have an easier birth. Now she takes part in pregnancy fitness classes every week. This makes her feel more positive and energetic. It’s also been a great way for Leila to make friends with other pregnant and new mums.
Leila wanted to make sure that throughout her pregnancy she’d stay fit and be as healthy as she could be when she welcomed her little one into the world.
At 15 weeks pregnant, Leila started the going to a course for mums-to-be. The course supports pregnant women and new mums to be more active and healthy before and after pregnancy.
During her first trimester, Leila felt tired and sick and was understandably concerned about what activity was safe to do in the early stages of having a baby. As a result she ended up doing very little activity until she found the reassurance and support she needed from this course.
Leila heard going to classes could help so she went along to see what they were like and she loved them! The mixture of yoga, pilates and low intensity aerobic exercises were an ideal way to stay active during pregnancy.
“I would really encourage pregnant and new mums to try and be more active during their pregnancies. Doing a small amount of activity has helped to ease my back pain and really helped my mood, making me feel generally better about life. What I really liked was meeting other new and expectant mums and sharing our experiences. It’s amazing how similar a lot of us were feeling and because we were all having a laugh while being active, it didn’t even seem like hard work.”
After experiencing a traumatic road accident, and then being diagnosed with blood cancer, Julie decided she needed to find a way to be more active that fitted her age and lifestyle. She’s also got three energetic granddaughters to look after, so she felt she needed to keep fit and active.
