Squats During Pregnancy: Safety & Low-Lying Placenta Concerns

Question
Hi Helene,
Would you please let me know if it is safe to perform squats, full and half in the last few weeks of pregnancy also is it safe in low lying placenta conditions, if a person has not reported this condition, would squatting lead to placenta previa condition, please let me know, appreciate your assistance.

Warm Regards,
Rajni

Answer
I doubt that squats would cause placenta previa. But I certainly would not advice squats for someone with a low lying placenta.

As to squat safety in general during pregnancy, it really depends on the skill level of the exerciser. If the women can maintain a PERFECT neutral spine throughout the exercise, then it's OK. But realize that this is very hard to do as the belly gets bigger. The abdominal muscles are stretched quite a bit in the last weeks, and this stretching inhibits the muscular ability to contract. And it's the contraction of the deepest muscle, the Transverse Abdominis, that stabilizes and supports the spine.

Certainly it would be necessary to lower the amount of weight used, to compensate for the reduced functional strength in the abs.

Additionally, as childbirth nears, your joints will become more lax, and an exercise like weighted full squats could easily become too intense for your knee ligaments to handle.