Sport England and ukactive have teamed up to launch a series of online workouts to help pregnant woman and new mums be physically active at home.

The new This Mum Moves resource is part of a collaboration between ukactive’s This Mum Moves programme and Sport England’s Join the Movement campaign and includes a new website showcasing online workouts specifically created for antenatal and postnatal women.

Featuring a wide range of activities – from yoga and Pilates to circuit training and CV exercises – the videos focus on general fitness.

Each exercise session has been reviewed by a panel of experts, including exercise professionals and academics from Canterbury Christ Church University and Aston University with expertise in pregnancy, the postpartum period and physical activity.

Rachel Lawson, project manager at ukactive, said: “We hope that this bespoke resource will help more pregnant women and new mums to feel comfortable and confident about trying these activities at home."

The resource was launched after a survey by the Active Pregnancy Foundation showed that 53 per cent of pregnant women and new mums said they have been less active since the COVID-19 lockdown.

It also found that 36 per cent of respondents believe they are ‘a lot less’ active each week than before the lockdown restrictions began, and 17 per cent believe they are ‘a bit less’ active.

While 57 per cent of respondents said they were active for between 30 and 149 minutes per week before lockdown, that has dropped to 52 per cent since restrictions came into place on 23 March. Only 24 per cent have managed to achieve 150 minutes or more during lockdown.

The new workouts form part of the wider Join the Movement #StayInWorkOut campaign, which Sport England launched to inspire the nation to get, or keep, active during the Coronavirus pandemic.

The campaign website, stayinworkout.org hosts home workouts for a variety of audiences including parents and children, older adults and more – including This Mum Moves.

Kate Dale, Campaign Lead on Join The Movement for Sport England, said: “Often, women can feel unsure about which activities and moves are safe to do and the guidance from This Mum Moves is a way to address these concerns and encourage women to get active in a way that works for them.”

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