Current guidelines recommend pregnant women try to get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week, if they’re able. But not everyone can reach that goal, or feels comfortable exercising at a harder intensity as the body changes during pregnancy.
The new findings offer approachable, science-backed exercise recommendations for expectant moms.
“Our results provide some first evidence that pregnant women may be able to help prevent preeclampsia and other pregnancy outcomes by sitting less and moving more,” says lead study author Bethany Barone Gibbs, PhD, chair of epidemiology and biostatistics at West Virginia University in Morgantown.
Expectant Mothers Tracked Their Activity Levels Across Pregnancy
The study recruited 470 pregnant women across the country between 2021 and 2025. The women were 31 years old on average, and all were less than 13 weeks pregnant at the start of the study.
Study participants wore activity trackers to monitor time spent sitting, light-intensity physical activity, and daily steps during each trimester of pregnancy.
On average, participants:
- Spent the majority of their time being sedentary, about 10.1 hours a day
- Got 4.6 hours of light physical activity
- Took roughly 6,800 daily steps
About 37 percent of women had some form of pregnancy complication; 18 percent had a hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, which includes preeclampsia.
By comparing activity data with information about any pregnancy complications the women experienced, including gestational diabetes, preterm birth, and preeclampsia, researchers found:
- Women scored high and very high on sitting time (up to nearly 12 hours per day) had more than twice the risk of pregnancy complications compared with women who sat very little (less than seven hours a day).
- On the flip side, women who scored very high on light physical activity each day (about seven hours daily) had half the risk of pregnancy complications compared with those who got the least amount of light activity (about three hours).
- Women who got moderate and high daily steps counts (up to about 12,000) had less pregnancy complications compared with those who got around 4,000 steps each day.
The results suggest that “optimizing lighter-intensity activity patterns should be rigorously tested as a strategy to improve pregnancy health,” the researchers wrote in the conclusion.
There Is a Broad Range With Light-Intensity Exercise
Light-intensity exercise encompasses most activity, Dr. Gibbs says. “Our findings showed that anything not sitting appeared to be helpful — even just standing,” she says.
Gibbs offers the following examples of as light-intensity movement:
- Playing with children
- Doing shopping in person
- Walking the dog
- Moving around while talking on the phone
- Emptying the dishwasher
- Walking around the block
“We found that more prolonged sitting was most risky: sitting for an hour or more at a time,” Gibbs says. “So, if you find yourself sitting continuously, get up and move around for a bit.”
Even a Little Activity Can Have a Big Impact on Pregnancy Outcomes
The data suggests that regular movement can do a lot to lower the risk of pregnancy complications, making this more accessible to expectant moms. “Women who may be worried about vigorous exercise in pregnancy may be more motivated to do everyday movements that are more achievable,” says Meleen Chuang, MD, interim chief of obstetrics at NYU Langone Health in New York City.
The findings are significant because more women are becoming pregnant with higher baseline risks for complications, like obesity, high blood pressure, and generally less active lifestyles, Dr. Chuang says.
“Current exercise recommendations often emphasize moderate-to-vigorous activity, but many pregnant individuals may struggle to meet those targets because of fatigue, nausea, physical limitations, work schedules, or concerns about safety,” she says. “This study helps fill an important gap by showing that even lower-intensity movement may be beneficial.”
The findings also paint a clear picture on what women can do to lower their risk of pregnancy complications, says Kamilah Dixon, MD, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at The Ohio State University in Westerville.
“We are seeing more patients with adverse outcomes of pregnancy, and there is always the question on how we can prevent this,” she says. “As such, it would be great to have something else we can offer patients that they can do during pregnancy to help decrease their risks.”
The Study Has Strengths and Limitations
Because the study was observational, it doesn’t prove that being more active lowers the risk of pregnancy complications — it just finds a link between the two. But the research closely monitored the activity levels of expectant moms throughout pregnancy with fitness trackers, which is a more reliable method than simply asking the participants about their activity levels.
The study participants had “limited” racial and ethnic diversity, and tended to be healthy volunteers, according to the researchers. As a result, the researchers recommend that the study be done with a larger and more diverse group of participants.
To Get More Movement During Pregnancy, Keep It Simple
Gibbs stresses that there’s more than one way to be active. While she notes that moderate-to-vigorous exercise should still be a priority, “our study adds that you can also get benefits from nonformal activity across the day.”
While being active in pregnancy is important, Dr. Dixon says it’s crucial to listen to your body. “You may not be able to do everything you did before pregnancy because of all of the physiologic changes of pregnancy, but you should still strive to stay active,” she says.
Chuang agrees. “Exercise in pregnancy does not have to be a full in-gym workout,” she says. “Small, sustainable habits are beneficial and should carry through the postpartum period.”
Finally, Gibbs suggests doing what you can to sit less and move more. “Fitting in a visit to the gym can be hard, but moving more and sitting less may feel better and be easily incorporated into daily routines,” she says.
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