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Regular exercise throughout pregnancy can shorten the duration of labour, according to the first clinical trial to test the effectiveness of prenatal physical activity. Women who undertook regular aerobic, strengthening, and pelvic floor exercises spent an average of 50 minutes less time in labour.

at the Technical University of Madrid, in Spain, and his colleagues randomly assigned 508 women who were between 9 and 11 weeks’ pregnant to receive either general antenatal health counselling or a regular exercise class.

Women in the exercise group took part in three weekly, hour-long classes, which…