The award-winning This Girl Can campaign has invested £311,000 of National Lottery funding in Our Parks to develop free programmes to encourage new and expectant mothers to get active.
The new Couch to Fitness programmes, developed in partnership with Sport England and London Sport, focus on pre- and postnatal exercise and are designed by experts to meet the needs of women during these stages of life, when being active can present additional challenges.
The two programmes have been reviewed and endorsed by the Active Pregnancy Foundation, who developed a pre-exercise screening to ensure the programmes are suitable for the intended audiences.
With 64% of pregnant women or new mums having experienced nervousness or anxiety related to physical activity, This Girl Can’s director of marketing Kate Dale understands how beneficial these programmes could be.
“Our relationship with our bodies and ourselves can change so much during pregnancy and early motherhood,” she said.
“Getting and staying active can be really helpful, emotionally and physically, yet many women aren't sure what's recommended for them to do and are often even worried about doing more harm than good.
“We're thrilled to be working with Our Parks to create these new 6-week online programmes, developed by expert instructors, that allow women to take part at their own pace in the comfort of their own home and have been designed with their needs in mind.”
Each free programme lasts six weeks, with three sessions a week each lasting around half an hour, is suitable for all levels and comes with the bonus of a strong and supportive Our Parks online community.
Since March this year, more than 60,000 hours of exercise have been delivered on the Our Parks website, with their Couch to Fitness Facebook group having more than 9,000 members that offer motivation and support to one another.
The existing programmes also have a diverse audience, with 36% of users coming from ethnically diverse backgrounds, as well as having a 50% completion rate – which is above average for programmes targeting inactive people.
Born Barikor, Our Parks founder, is excited to add these two new programmes to the current Couch to Fitness catalogue.
“The launch of the Couch to Fitness Pre- and Postnatal programmes is a proud moment for Our Parks and the sector,” he said.
“The programmes are entirely created through collaboration with Sport England, London Sport, the Active Pregnancy Foundation and industry experts.
“A tremendous amount of work has gone into making this programme appropriate, accessible and inspiring to give mothers the confidence to be active during and after pregnancy.
“Working in partnership with other organisations leads to innovation and diverse thinking; I am so delighted with what we continue to achieve through this partnership and am keen to continue to share this learning with the sector.”
With 74% of women surveyed in a 2021 poll by Savanta ComRes saying that they felt, or would have felt, more reassured to become or stay active as a result of receiving safety advice or encouragement from a healthcare professional, This Girl Can knew it was important to speak to experts in active pregnancy.
Which is why, alongside the new programmes comes a sophisticated screening tool to further check the exercises are suitable for individual participants.
“Navigating an active motherhood can be really challenging, particularly if you are new to activity,” said Dr Marlize De Vivo, chief executive officer of the Active Pregnancy Foundation.
“Not knowing where to start, what you can or can’t do, or which professional to turn to, means that many women are missing out on the associated physical and mental health benefits.
“The Couch to Fitness Pre- and Postnatal Programmes address many of these barriers and makes movement more accessible.
“As part of our mission to improve industry standards, we’ve worked closely with Our Parks, London Sport and Sport England to ensure alignment to the national physical activity guidelines and best practice standards.
“We are delighted to announce these as the first programmes to receive our official endorsement.”
