Effects Of Practicing Taijiquan On The Physical And Mental Health Of Pregnant Women

Traditionally,pregnant women in Chinese society have been asked to avoid too much physical activity to prevent the fetuses from being hurt. However,more and more sport medical and obstetric researches are changing this opinion.Aerobics is now considered to be safe for pregnant women by American College of Obstericians and Gynecologists(ACOG.) Being an exercise with moderate strength of aerobics,playing Taijiquan may be suitable for pregnant women.Though many investigators have tried to demonstrate the usefulness of Taijiquan to the health of a variety of people,including the elderly,middle-aged intellectuals,and college students,there has been no study particularly focusing on pregnant women. In this study,we investigated the effects of Taijiquan on the body and mind of pregnant women,and discussed if it is practicable to prescribe Taijiquan as a kind of exercise for pregnant women.In this study,the subjects are 17 first-time pregnant women with ages of 25-30.They were taught 8 simple movements and the involving principles of Taijiquan on the 13th and 14th weeks of their pregnancy. Then they had practiced Taijiquan thrice a week,one hour per time,for about five months.The controls are those who did not stick to particular kinds of exercise.Some indexes of physiological and psychological functions were measured before and after the training.The conclusions are as following:(1) Practicing Taijiquan is safe for both the mother and fetus.(2)The amounts of triglyceride and cholesterol in blood and the accumulations of fat subcutaneously were lowered by practicing Taijiquan; moreover,the body weights could be controlled more effectively.(3) The pregnant women who practiced Taijiquan had stable and slightly decreased blood pressures that are not greatly enough to hurt the fetuses. (4) The pregnant women who practiced Taijiquan had decreased pulse rates and increased vital capacities and ventilation volumes so that the short of breath was alleviated during the late period of pregnancy.(5) The pregnant women who practiced Taijiquan had less increases in the angle of the curve of lumbar spine,and complained less about the low back pain.(6) The resistance to the common cold and flu increased for the pregnant women who practiced Taijiquan.(7) The pregnant women who practiced Taijiquan had milder subjective symptoms.(8) The anxiety and depression often associated to the pregnancy could be soothed by practicing Taijiquan,leading the pregnant women better living with relaxed and optimistic spirit.