Program for Pregnancy and Postpartum Health

🤰🏽💪 Pregnant? Stay Active for a Healthier You and Baby! 💚

According to the 2019 Canadian Guidelines, if you're pregnant and don't have medical restrictions, staying active is not only safe — it’s highly recommended! 🌟

✔ Physical activity is NOT linked to miscarriage, stillbirth, or preterm birth
✔ It can lower your risk of depression
✔ Reduces chances of gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, and pre-eclampsia by 40%
✔ Aim for 150 minutes/week of moderate activity like walking, swimming, cycling, or resistance training

Only 15% of pregnant women currently meet these guidelines — let’s change that! 💥

Check out these simple resistance training ideas and more from the University of Alberta's Program for Pregnancy and Postpartum Health. Learn more at 👉 exerciseandpregnancy.ca

the brand new 2025 Canadian Guideline for Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, and Sleep Throughout the First Year Postpartum

👉 Read the full guideline now https://bit.ly/3XvSZuC

After years of work by a fantastic team led by

, having reviewed more than 19,000 titles and abstracts, the expert consensus panel has released best practice guidelines today❕

🔟 Ten key points
☑️ Individualised care
💭 How to safely meet activity guidelines in the period
🔑 Access the Questionnaire for Postpartum https://bit.ly/421Kadh

⚠️ When should you return to running after childbirth? 🤷‍♂️ 🤰 🏃‍♀️

The FINAL post from provides the opinions of clinicians and exercise professionals from all over the world 🌎

14/14 👉 https://bit.ly/3tWB7xh

We've been busy the last two years - we've reviewed more than 15,000 abstracts and included more than 526 research articles to inform the development of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada /Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology 2024 Canadian 24-hour Movement Guideline for the Postpartum Period!

BUT we need your help! We are looking for people who are postpartum, or work with people who are postpartum (e.g., physician, midwife, physiotherapist, exercise professional etc) to provide feedback on the draft recommendations.

The survey links are below, THANK YOU for your help!

ENGLISH: https://redcap.link/PostpartumMvtGuideline
FRENCH: https://redcap.link/PostpartumMvtGuidelineFR

PI: Margie Davenport, PhD
PRO00133246
Postpartum Guideline Consultation
Time commitment: 15 minutes


___________________________
Nous avons été très occupés au cours des deux dernières années - nous avons examiné plus de 15 000 résumés et inclus plus de 526 articles scientifiques afin d'éclairer le développement de l’édition 2024 des Directives canadiennes en matière de mouvement sur 24 heures pour la période postpartum de la Société des obstétriciens et gynécologues du Canada et de la Société canadienne de physiologie de l'exercice !

MAIS nous avons besoin de votre aide ! Nous recherchons des personnes qui sont en période postnatale ou qui travaillent avec des personnes en période postnatale (p. ex. : médecin, sage-femme, physiothérapeute, professionnel de l'exercice, etc.) pour nous faire part de leurs commentaires sur l'ébauche des recommandations.

Les liens vers l'enquête sont ci-dessous, MERCI pour votre aide !

ENGLISH: https://redcap.link/PostpartumMvtGuideline
FRENCH: https://redcap.link/PostpartumMvtGuidelineFR

PI: Margie Davenport, PhD
PRO00133246
Postpartum Guideline Consultation
Engagement en termes de temps: 15 minutes

Did you engage in physical activity following pregnancy? If yes… we need your help!

We are looking for people at least ONE year postpartum who participated in any type of physical activity (recreational to high-performance!). We are trying to understand the impact of breastfeeding (or not!) on physical activity/exercise habits and health outcomes such as injury, fatigue and sleep.

The survey will take ~15 minutes to complete and is anonymous!

Interested? Follow this link to access the survey:

https://redcap.link/postpartum_injury


PI: Margie Davenport
[email protected]
Total time to complete: 15 minutes
Version 1, September 25, 2023

Original Research ⭐️

Experiences of coaches and healthcare professionals working with with pregnant and postpartum elite athletes 🤰🏃‍♀️

This qualitative study aimed to identify actionable steps for research, policy and culture change

READ ➡️ https://bit.ly/40gt4XS

!

We're looking for our last three pregnant, and last two non-pregnant participants to take part in our acute weightlifting study!

We're currently looking for pregnant (at least 20 weeks gestation) and non-pregnant individuals who can lift more than 50 pounds in a squat, bench press and deadlift!

The study involves two visits of 2 hours per session at the University of Alberta.

For more information please contact Brittany at [email protected], or follow this link: https://redcap.link/0nylb8k5

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: MARGIE DAVENPORT
PRO00118617
[email protected]
780-492-0642

📣NEW RESEARCH STUDY! 📣

We are looking for pregnant individuals (

High-intensity interval training safe for pregnant women and their babies, study suggests High-intensity interval training was shown to be well tolerated by expecting mothers and their babies in a recent study that runs counter to traditional physical activity recommendations for pregnant women.

🔦RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT🔦

We already know that physical activity is important to help control blood sugar values for those who have gestational diabetes mellitus. But we don't know if there is an optimal timing where exercise is most effective!

During the pandemic, Ly-Anh and Aine recruited 17 participants with GDM and 16 participants without GDM to examine the impact of exercise timing on blood sugar control.

Participants were randomized to either a SHORT (10 minute walk after breakfast, lunch, and dinner) or LONG (30 minutes at any point in the day except the hour after meals) walking protocol. After five days, participants switched to the opposite protocol! Blood sugars and physical activity were monitored throughout the study.

Curious what we found??? Check out the slides to learn more!!

A HUGE thank you to our amazing participants! This would not have been possible without you!!

DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20085500