Original research
Antepartum, intrapartum, and neonatal significance of exercise on healthy low-risk pregnant working women

Get rights and content

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the influence of exercise on maternal and perinatal outcome in a low-risk healthy obstetric population.

METHODS:

We conducted a prospective observational study of low-risk healthy women exercising during their pregnancy. An extensive questionnaire collected antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum patient information on 750 women. The women were divided into four groups based on exercise level during pregnancy.

RESULTS:

There were no differences among groups for maternal demographic characteristics, antenatal illnesses, stress, social support, or smoking. Heavily exercising women were older (P = .042), had higher incomes (P = .001), and were exercising more at conception (P = .001). Women who did more exercise were more likely to need an induction of labor (P = .033, relative risk 1.84, 95% confidence interval 1.05, 3.20), induction or augmentation with oxytocin (P = .015, relative risk 1.53, 95% confidence interval 1.19, 1.97), and had longer first-stage labors (P = .032) resulting in longer total labors (P = .011). The difference in the length of first-stage labor was even greater if the no-exercise group was compared with the strongly exercising group (P = .009, relative risk 1.38, 95% confidence interval 0.16, 2.60). Fewer umbilical cord abnormalities (P = .034) were observed with exercise, but exercising women had more colds and flu (P = .008). Heavily exercising women had smaller infants (mean difference 86.5 g) compared with sedentary women.

CONCLUSION:

Exercise in working women is associated with smaller babies, increased number of inductions and augmentations of labor, and longer labors. Colds and flu are more frequent in exercising women.

Section snippets

Materials and methods

Healthy, low-risk, obstetric patients attending the prenatal clinic at the Naval Medical Center, San Diego, California were eligible to participate in this prospective observational investigation. Only active-duty women were recruited because they had all been screened for medical illness before enlistment in the military. They underwent mandatory periodic physical examinations, and if they developed significant illness or disabilities and could not perform the duties required of active-duty

Results

Between January 1995 and January 1998, 772 women were enrolled into this investigation. Twenty-two women transferred from San Diego to other military commands during their pregnancy and were not in the analysis, leaving 750 evaluated women. Any military woman developing a complication during the pregnancy, which would disqualify her from the active-duty military, was medically evaluated upon completion of the pregnancy. If found to be unqualified for military service, she would receive a

Discussion

Influences of exercise, stress, and occupation on pregnancy outcome are difficult to examine because of confounding variables not taken into account in large investigations and the lack of an adequate sample size in smaller studies.13 Active-duty women present a unique group for examination because all have been screened for medical illnesses before their enlistment into the service. Also, these women undergo periodic examinations, and any women with serious illness are discharged from the

References (19)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (95)

  • Effect of maternal exercise on calf dry matter intake, weight gain, behavior, and cortisol concentrations at disbudding and weaning

    2017, Journal of Dairy Science
    Citation Excerpt :

    In a Healthy Start study examining physical activity during gestation, a negative linear trend between fat mass and energy expenditure was noted, indicating reduced neonatal adiposity with increased physical activity without decreasing neonatal fat-free mass (Harrod et al., 2014). Similarly, women participating in heavy exercise up to or beyond 28 wk of gestation delivered smaller infants (Magann et al., 2002). However, in neither study did researchers follow infant growth or observe infant responses to stressful events, such as weaning.

  • Exercise during pregnancy and risk of cesarean delivery in nulliparous women: a large population-based cohort study

    2016, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
    Citation Excerpt :

    Owing to the large sample size, even minor risk reductions become highly significant. Studies that are based on clinical or selected study populations exist,15,16,26-30 and some of these have reported an association between physical activity or exercise and mode of delivery. In previous studies, the exposure seldom was assessed more than once during pregnancy, and the varied definitions and types of exercise makes it difficult to compare the results across studies.

View all citing articles on Scopus

Supported in part by the Vicksburg Hospital Medical Foundation, Vicksburg, Mississippi, and the Women and Infants Research Foundation of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.

View full text