Many pregnant women experience it: swollen feet, legs, hands and arms or even face. The reason for this is water retention and it is quite a natural phenomenon in pregnancy. But it can be really burdensome and especially cause pain. Shoes or other clothes suddenly do not fit either, and not because of the increasing circumference of the belly! There is also a risk for other health problems. Fortunately, there are ways to counteract this annoying mom side effect. Learn more below…
How does water retention occur?
During pregnancy, your body undergoes many changes. As you gain weight, your blood volume increases, and so does the amount of water in your body. Vessels become less elastic during pregnancy and therefore more permeable. The hormone progesterone is responsible for this. The water escapes from the blood vessels and unfortunately then accumulates in the surrounding tissue, when this happens we speak of water retention.
Typically, these symptoms occur especially in the third trimester of pregnancy. Lack of exercise during this time, such as sitting for long periods (e.g. on long flights) or standing, should be avoided, as this promotes the formation of water retention. High temperatures can also promote swelling, because the calf pump works less actively in the heat. You can read more about this in our blog on: Traveling during pregnancy.
Why can water retention become uncomfortable for mamas-to-be?
Everything gets bigger all at once, for example, if you always wear jewelry on your hands, it could press all at once and lead to pain. It could also become uncomfortable on your shoes. The skin on the affected areas tightens and feels bulging. If you touch the affected area, a dent will form. The swollen parts of the body especially around the joints become restricted in their mobility and it can lead to pain. Basically, these are purely optical problems that occur. In the worst case, however, edema (=water retention) can lead to further health consequences, such as preeclampsia. It is therefore essential to consult your doctor at all times.
Water against water retention
What helps against this is to drink enough water! It may sound strange, but it’s true, because water cleanses your body. Toxins are flushed out of the body and water retention in arms and legs is reduced. The daily requirement of a pregnant woman here is on average 2-3l. Water not only serves as a means of transport, but is also an important component for the cells and therefore indispensable for our body.
Exercise while working or traveling
A lot of sitting, whether at a desk or even while traveling is not recommended, but often cannot be avoided. However, especially towards the end of the day or after sitting still for long periods of time while traveling, the lower legs, ankles and feet are usually more swollen. What helps: For long trips on planes, just get up and walk around a bit every now and then. When traveling by car, simply stop and get out briefly to stretch your legs. During the trip, try to stretch your legs from time to time and circle your feet, repeat the process for your hands and arms as well. In addition, I recommend that you wear (long) compression stockings. Water retention can also occur in the forearms, hands and face.
Which MOVE IT MAMA workouts help specifically against water retention
With the state of MOVE IT MAMA now, I especially recommend you exercises from our MAMA’S PILATES series with many exercises from the BARRE area, which addresses the leg muscles and also vein activity. This activates and trains vein pumps. You relieve swelling caused by water retention and feel better. Exercises with the fascia roller from our RELAX & ROLL IT MAMA series are also very effective here. Other mobility exercises also help here.
In our RELAX & ROLL IT Trimester 3 you will find, among other things, the following very simple exercise:
- Sit on a ball or the edge of a chair, straighten up.
- Exhale and pull your belly button towards your sternum.
- Then from here lift one leg and circle the foot in one direction for 15 seconds, then the other way around. Next, switch feet. (see photo left)
- Now it’s your arms turn with your arms extended at chest/shoulder height.
- And now you stretch your arm with the help of the second arm (see photo right)
Such a simple exercise already helps to counteract water retention.
More tips on how to reduce water retention
- Drink enough: It may sound a bit questionable, but sufficient fluid intake promotes the metabolism and the elimination of harmful substances.
- Healthy diet: do not follow any diets and make sure you eat a balanced diet rich in fiber and vitamins.
- Raise legs: this act supports the return of water, perform it several times a day for 20-30 minutes at best.
- Massages: massage the swollen areas with light pressure in the direction of the heart.
- Alternating showers: hot-cold showers also help to stimulate circulation and blood flow.
- Loose clothing and compression stockings: this allows your skin to breathe better and blood to circulate more easily. Compression stockings prevent too much blood from sinking into the legs.
Water retention after birth?
As a rule, water retention disappears on its own after birth. It is part of the regression process. If you perform regular exercises during pregnancy, the healing and regeneration process after birth will be stimulated and accelerated. Already during the postpartum period you can also perform very special exercises that gently strengthen your body again and alleviate typical mommy complaints during this time. Try our exercises from the SPECIAL 15 series, which was developed exactly for the postpartum phase.
As you can see, water retention is normal during pregnancy, so don’t worry. With a few tips & tricks, you’ll manage to reduce the swellings and make your mommy time more pleasant and enjoy it to the fullest.
Keep it Moving,
Your Birte
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