# Physical activity in pregnancy Intervention · id `maternal:physical-activity-in-pregnancy` · Maternal & Newborn Atlas · release `fc5a600ec7387e71` (public) > General information from published sources, not medical advice, and not reviewed by clinicians. Check the cited source before relying on anything here. The atlas's own text and curation may be reused under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/): credit the atlas, and do not use it commercially. See the atlas About page. Text quoted from a source stays under that source's own terms, given as the source's reuse\_basis. The atlas's reuse terms do not cover it. The downloads list each quotation with its source in third\_party\_quotations. Browse, life stage: Pregnancy; Postpartum Browse, care area: Routine pregnancy care ## In plain language Staying active during pregnancy can help a person stay strong, feel and sleep better, and prepare the body for birth, according to MedlinePlus, which also says to check with a provider about which types of activity are right. The 2019 Canadian guideline on physical activity in pregnancy says the benefits are moderate and that no harms were identified. ## Technical summary Two sources: the MedlinePlus pregnancy topic (last updated June 9, 2025) and the PubMed abstract of the 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy. The abstract does not print the recommendations, such as how much activity is advised or who should avoid it, and the full text could not be fetched, so this page states neither. ## Claims, with the population each applies to ## Context: Pregnant women (2019 Canadian guideline on physical activity) Recipient: Maternal; Population: Pregnant women. The guideline is written for pregnant women and for obstetric care and exercise professionals. The outcomes it evaluated were maternal, fetal or neonatal morbidity, or fetal mortality, during and following pregnancy.; Care setting: Not stated in the PubMed abstract; Geography: Canada (a Canadian guideline according to its title); the abstract does not describe settings.; Life stage: Throughout pregnancy and, for the outcomes evaluated, following pregnancy; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (recommendation context) ### The 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy gives guidance to pregnant women and to obstetric care and exercise professionals. Its abstract says the benefits of prenatal physical activity are moderate and no harms were identified, so the difference between desirable and undesirable consequences (net benefit) is expected to be moderate. It adds that most stakeholders and end users said following the recommendations would be feasible, acceptable and equitable, and that doing so is likely to need minimal resources. - Category: Description - Evidence stage: Guidance - Certainty: Certainty not assessed - Applies to: Recipient: Maternal; Population: Pregnant women. The guideline is written for pregnant women and for obstetric care and exercise professionals. The outcomes it evaluated were maternal, fetal or neonatal morbidity, or fetal mortality, during and following pregnancy.; Care setting: Not stated in the PubMed abstract; Geography: Canada (a Canadian guideline according to its title); the abstract does not describe settings.; Life stage: Throughout pregnancy and, for the outcomes evaluated, following pregnancy; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (recommendation context) - Limitations: Only the PubMed abstract was read. It does not print the recommendations themselves, such as how much activity is advised or who should not exercise, so the atlas does not state them. The full text could not be fetched (HTTP 403 from bjsm.bmj.com and doi.org, a Cloudflare challenge). The abstract says the quality of evidence was rated with GRADE but gives no certainty rating, so certainty is not assessed. The title says 2019 while PubMed gives the issue date 2018 Nov (volume 52, issue 21). - Last checked: 2026-10-14 - Sources: 1. Supports: 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, fetched 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 10. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:18:20Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: bfd42b5261b0a4276268817ec9a2b715b7e37e3108c4188b5ea01221ca94e401. How it applies: PubMed abstract of the guideline (Br J Sports Med). 2. Supports: 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, fetched 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 11. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:18:20Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: bfd42b5261b0a4276268817ec9a2b715b7e37e3108c4188b5ea01221ca94e401. How it applies: PubMed abstract of the guideline (Br J Sports Med). 3. Supports: 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, fetched 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 12. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:18:20Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: bfd42b5261b0a4276268817ec9a2b715b7e37e3108c4188b5ea01221ca94e401. How it applies: PubMed abstract of the guideline (Br J Sports Med). 4. Background: 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, fetched 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 1. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:18:20Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: bfd42b5261b0a4276268817ec9a2b715b7e37e3108c4188b5ea01221ca94e401. How it applies: Purpose, outcomes evaluated and the GRADE method. 5. Background: 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, fetched 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 2. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:18:20Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: bfd42b5261b0a4276268817ec9a2b715b7e37e3108c4188b5ea01221ca94e401. How it applies: Purpose, outcomes evaluated and the GRADE method. 6. Background: 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, fetched 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 7. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:18:20Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: bfd42b5261b0a4276268817ec9a2b715b7e37e3108c4188b5ea01221ca94e401. How it applies: Purpose, outcomes evaluated and the GRADE method. ## Connected pages - Filed under this front: Prevention and nutrition (`maternal:front-prevention-and-nutrition`) - Activity advice is part of routine antenatal care: Antenatal (prenatal) care (`maternal:antenatal-care`) ## Provenance Content hash: 6c46f9255cb336f99ba67b6cf78d7ed7e9fd04c3713091eac2e6873c9842ed01 Last substantive edit: 2026-10-14 Evidence last checked: 2026-10-14