Boring household chores harmful for moms-to-be, says study

While an active pregnancy is good for both mother and unborn child, doing mentally un-stimulating work the whole day raises the risk of giving birth at least three weeks early by around 25 percent, the researchers warned.

Details of the study
Pregnancy data of about 12,000 new moms was amassed for the study. It included details about the mom-to-be’s daily physical activities (including exercise pattern and household chores), their job profiles, overall health during pregnancy, gestation of pregnancy, and baby weight.

Moms who indulged in mentally un-stimulating work were more likely to give birth prematurely. The risk of giving birth at least three weeks before term were around 25 percent higher for such moms, researchers found.

Although the exact cause behind the malady is not known, researchers believe that boring and repetitive tasks increase the levels of stress hormones involved in causing labor.

The other side of the story
Abstaining from boring and repetitive tasks is advocated, but switching to a completely sedentary lifestyle spells trouble, researchers warn.

Taking up a completely sedentary lifestyle increased the chances of having an underweight baby, researchers found.

“Pregnancy is not a disease. In fact, most women who are pregnant are healthy and most of them are being delivered of perfectly healthy babies. Women who are healthy and do not have pregnancy complications should not restrict their activities in order to achieve a better pregnancy outcome,” lead researcher, Hajo Wildschut, of Erasmus University in Rotterdam stated.

Seconding Wildschut’s opinion, Patrick O'Brien, a consultant obstetrician at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists added, “Exercise is good in pregnancy, it keeps you aerobically fit, it keeps your weight under control, it probably reduces the chances of difficulties and it makes it easier to deal with the birth and after wards.”

Exercise during pregnancy helps prevent obesity in baby
Besides the far-reaching benefits for a mom-to-be, exercise during pregnancy promises fitness for the unborn baby too.

A new study carried out at the University of Auckland in New Zealand shows that indulging in a regular aerobic routine during pregnancy leads to a reduction in the birth weight of a baby.

“Given that large birth size is associated with an increased risk of obesity, a modest reduction in birth weight may have long-term health benefits for offspring by lowering this risk in later life,” researchers averred.