Give your baby a healthy heart by exercising during pregnancy. That's the message from scientists who say fit mums-to-be give their children healthier blood vessels in adult life.
They think this is because exercise can programme a baby's arteries to resist heart problems.
The current guidelines for pregnant women recommend 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity on most if not all days of the week.
At the moment, women are advised that the more active and fit they are during pregnancy, the easier it will be to cope with labour and get back into shape after the baby arrives.
The scientists from the US and Germany carrying out the latest research claim the results provide evidence that maternal exercise during pregnancy can programme the arteries of the offspring to better resist heart problems in the future.
Dr Sean Newcomer, of California State University San Marcos USA, and Dr Thomas Bahls, of Universitätsmedizin Greifswald Germany said: "Our study was the first to demonstrate that maternal exercise during pregnancy significantly impacts vascular function in adult offspring."