Pregnant woman gets more than medal after marathon: She has a baby

Feeling inadequate today? Sorry, we’re going to make you feel even worse. A woman gave birth after running a marathon.

That’s right, she popped out a kid after running (OK, and walking) 26.2 miles of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday and crossing the finish line, according to the Chicago Tribune. The woman, Amber Miller, said her doctor said it was OK for her to run while she was almost 39 weeks pregnant with her second child. Miller said she felt contractions during the race, but they became more frequent toward the end.

The best part of this whole scenario? She not only beat her husband with a time of 6:25:50, but she stopped to get a sandwich before going to the hospital. A girl’s gotta eat, right? And you never know about that hospital food.

Baby June was born later that night weighing 7 pounds, 13 ounces and no, she did not come into the world wearing a singlet or running shoes. Mother and baby are reportedly doing fine.

Years ago exercise used to be verboten for pregnant women, but no more. Even women who have been sedentary are encouraged to exercise during pregnancy. A 2009 study in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons found that exercise during pregnancy can improve the mother’s health and may have a positive effect on pregnancy-related symptoms.

Exercise was helpful in lowering blood pressure among pregnant women in another study. In a 2000 pilot study in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, 16 women who were sedentary or didn’t do much exercise were randomly assigned to an exercise program or told to keep their usual regime. After 10 weeks the exercise group lowered its diastolic blood pressure, while the control group showed no substantial change.

Pregnant women may not be exercising enough, a 2005 study in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise reported. A national survey of 144,000 non-pregnant women and 6,500 pregnant women done between 1994 and 2000 found that only one in six pregnant women gets the recommended amount of physical activity.

Before beginning any exercise program--especially a marathon--pregnant women should check with their doctors before lacing up their shoes.