IVF: What about exercise while going through IVF?
I’m writing this from personal experience. I’ve been through three rounds of IVF and subsequently had my daughter. I’ve also been teaching women going through IVF, miscarriage, pregnancy and in the early postnatal period for over 10 years.
I’ve had some doctors tell me to continue as normal during an IVF cycle and others tell me to stop exercising until reaching 12 weeks of pregnancy. So which is right?
This is personal preference. Firstly during an IVF cycle you may feel bloated, tender, have bruising, emotionally ragged. I remember it well.
I’d suggest that you keep up with some gentle exercise during this stage - gentle and restorative yoga, gentle Pilates, walking. Whatever your body is telling you it needs. You might need to modify for sore injection sites or for swollen bellies. I got terrible back ache from the tension and craved walking and restorative yoga. Surround yourself by a community that support you and, if possible, with people who understand.
I know an early IVF pregnancy may be deemed more precarious than a spontaneous one and you may feel like resting is the best course of action. Or you might feel like returning to some form of exercise. The early part of any pregnancy can make you feel depleted, nauseous, scared and anxious let alone one conceived via IVF. My recommendation during any pregnancy is not to start doing anything new. If you were a keen runner before and you feel like you want to continue then do so, but moderate and take it easy on yourself. Don’t take up something new if you weren’t already doing it before you became pregnant.
Pilates is safe to do at any stage of pregnancy and during IVF. The modifications we make are:
No “traditional” abdominal exercise like curl ups or working to strengthen the front core area. This is largely because you are probably sore here and when pregnant, the abdominal muscles have to separate to accommodate the growing baby.
Avoid popping you on your tummy lying flat - again this is because you are probably sore here and when pregnant this becomes uncomfortable. We can work your back muscles in other positions.
Rest - we make extra time for restorative moves such as gentle stretching or meditation.
Pelvic floor connection - it’s never too early to think about our pelvic floor and becomes increasingly important during pregnancy.
There is much evidence that exercising during pregnancy is safe and beneficial to do (I’ll go into that another time) but during IVF I’d suggest you just listen to your body If it’s asking you to move then do, if you need rest, give in to that. The body knows best!
Just some of the injection bruising I suffered from the IVF drugs.
