Pregnant women who exercise cut their risk of having a Caesarean section or large baby

Pregnant women who exercise cut their risk of having a Caesarean section by a fifth, according to new research.

They are also almost a third less likely to give birth to a large baby, the study found.

Previous studies show larger babies are more likely to have weight problems as adults.

Carrying out physical activity while expecting raises the chance of having a baby of normal weight, the Canadian scientists said.

Therefore, encouraging pregnant women to exercise could even be a means of preventing childhood obesity, they added.

Researchers analysed 28 studies, involving a total of 5,322 women, that looked at the influence of maternal exercise on babies' outcomes, such as birth weight.

Margi Davenport, an assistant professor at the University of Alberta, said: 'We found that women who exercised had a 31 per cent reduction in the risk of having a large baby without changing the risk of having a small baby or an earlier baby.

'Further, the risk of having a Caesarean section was reduced by 20 per cent.

'The findings are important because babies who are born large tend to be heavier as children and into adulthood.'

The study was published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.

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