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Baby
Boom Business—Programs for Pregnant Women
By Valerie Applebaum, MPH, CHES
 In
the constant hunt for new members, you may be overlooking
a profitable group: pregnant women and new mothers.
By meeting the needs of this often-underserved market
through prenatal and postnatal services, your fitness
facility can grow membership, gain long-term loyal customers
and ultimately play a beneficial role in the health
of pregnant women and new mothers.
Unlike other fitness regimens, the purpose of prenatal
and postnatal classes is not to improve athletic performance
or participate in competitive activities. Instead, the
fitness goal should be to exercise in moderation to
maintain physical fitness while focusing on maximum
safety.
Prenatal exercise classes should focus equally on cardiovascular
fitness, strength training and flexibility. Excellent
examples include low-impact aerobics, water-based exercises
and swimming, yoga and stretching.
- Cardiovascular Exercise. Increasing
endurance will assist during labor. Design programs
with simple choreography, avoiding activities with
rapid movements. Always offer modifications, and limit
strenuous exercise to 15 minutes. Since resting heart
rate rises during pregnancy, the Aerobics and Fitness
Association of America (AFAA) recommends pregnant
exercisers keep their heart rates between 60% to 70%
of the maximum heart rate.
- Strength Training. The focus should
be largely on the pelvic and abdominal muscles. “Pregnancy
is very stressful on a woman’s body . . . especially
the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles. If a woman
strengthens these two muscle groups during pregnancy,
not only will it help her in labor but the recovery
process will be much easier,” explains Julie
Tupler, RN, president of Maternal Fitness in New York
City and author of Maternal Fitness and Lose Your
Mummy Tummy.
- Flexibility. Include stretching
and limbering exercises to prepare the muscles and
connective tissue for delivery and to protect joints
from strain. Yoga and Pilates are ideal because the
postures also build strength and promote circulation.
Also consider incorporating imagery, music and breathing
techniques.
Postnatal classes are equally important to new mothers
interested in regaining their figures and energy levels.
Nonstrenuous exercise during the postpartum period offers
countless physical benefits and has been shown to reduce
postpartum depression. Ideally, a postnatal fitness
program should also focus on socialization and health
education to allow new mothers the opportunity to network
with other moms.
Postpartum classes should involve activities similar
to the prenatal programs, focusing on cardiovascular,
strength and flexibility exercises. More specifically,
postnatal classes should start gradually and work up
to sustained activity. Having women jump back into high-intensity
activity too early after delivery may postpone full
recovery. To reduce any risks, postpartum classes should
be offered to women at least 6 weeks postpartum.
For more tips on designing prenatal and postnatal classes,
refer to the January 2006 issue of IDEA Fitness
Manager or access it through the online IDEA
Article
Archive.
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