Table 5.

Quotes from postpartum guidelines on sedentary behavior (reported by 11 of 22 countries).

Country	Quote
Australia	“Minimise the amount of time spent in prolonged sitting” “Break up long periods of sitting as often as possible”
Austria	“Long-term sitting should be avoided or repeatedly interrupted by physical activity”
Belgium	“A healthy mix of sitting, standing, and moving is important for a healthy life” “Limit long periods of sitting still. Interrupt them ideally every 20–30 min. This can be done by standing up and walking or fetching a glass of water” “Replacing sitting still for a long time with exercise of any intensity (including light intensive exercise) provides health benefits”
Brazila	“Avoid spending too much time in sedentary behavior. Whenever possible, reduce the time where you sit or lie down watching television or using your cell phone, computer, tablet, or video game” “For example, every hour, move for at least 5 min and enjoy. Change position and stand up, go to the bathroom, drink water and stretch the body. Are small behaviors that can help reduce your sedentary behavior and improve your quality of life” “If you spend a lot of time sitting during the day, try to compensate for this behavior by including more physical activity time in your day-to-day”
Brunei	“Pregnant and postpartum women should limit the amount of time spent being sedentary. Replacing sedentary time with physical activity of any intensity (including light intensity) provides health benefits. A sensible approach would be to avoid prolonged periods of sitting and to break up sedentary time”
Finland	“Breaks to sedentary behavior were recommended whenever possible” “Set yourself screen time limits and decide which TV programs you wish to watch”
Francea	“Periods spent in a sitting or immobile position should be limited as much as possible. Stay less than 2 consecutive hours in a seated or semi-reclined position (excluding periods of sleep) and avoid successions of days with less than 5000 steps taken”
Norway	“Activity breaks that interrupt sitting still and physical activity through daily chores are beneficial both during pregnancy and after birth”
Singapore	“Limit the amount of time spent being sedentary, particularly recreational screen time, by engaging in activities of any intensity”
Spain	“Reduce the periods dedicated to sedentary activities, replacing it with physical activity of any intensity (even mild)”
Sweden	“More knowledge is needed about how prolonged sitting affects women's health during and after pregnancy, and pending more specific research, pregnant women are recommended to limit their sitting, just like other adults”

^aFor both Brazil and France, the guideline section on sedentary behavior was not specified for pregnant and/or postpartum women, so we assumed it was for both.