Original researchAntepartum, intrapartum, and neonatal significance of exercise on healthy low-risk pregnant working 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
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Cited by (95)
A Scoping Review of Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Postpartum Period in Active Duty U.S. Military Women
2021, Women's Health IssuesEffect of maternal exercise on calf dry matter intake, weight gain, behavior, and cortisol concentrations at disbudding and weaning
2017, Journal of Dairy ScienceCitation 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 GynecologyCitation 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.
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Supported in part by the Vicksburg Hospital Medical Foundation, Vicksburg, Mississippi, and the Women and Infants Research Foundation of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.