Exercise before and during pregnancy could be good for baby's brain

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-03-04 03:00

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Babies born to mums who were physically active before and during their pregnancy have a greater chance of strong brain development in early life, according to international research. The team studied 38,219 mother-child pairs, looking at how active mum was before and during her pregnancy and assessing the brain development of their kids every six months up to age three. They say higher activity before pregnancy was linked to higher scores on each aspect of the development assessment at six months, while higher activity during pregnancy was linked to improved motor skills and problem-solving. By age three, most of these links were no longer visible, the researchers say,  likely as other environmental factors such as childcare attendance kick in. The authors also note that women experiencing pregnancy complications need more rest, which may complicate the relationship between activity during pregnancy and the health of the baby.