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Exercise during pregnancy improves maternal health perception: a randomized controlled trial
Ruben Barakat1, Mireia Pelaez, Rocio Montejo
1Facultad de Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte - INEF, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain.
Objective:
We have studied the effect of moderate physical activity that is performed by healthy women during their entire pregnancy on their perception of health status.
Study Design:
Eighty sedentary women were assigned randomly to either an exercise group (n = 40) or a control group (n = 40). Maternal perception of health status and several pregnancy outcomes were recorded.
Results:
Significant differences (P = .03) were found between study groups in the percentage of women who perceived their health status as "very good"; the values that corresponded to the exercise group (n = 18; 54.5%) were better than those of the control group (n = 9; 27.3%). In addition, the women of the exercise group gained less weight (11,885 ± 3146 g) than those of the control group (13,903 ± 2113; P = .03).
Conclusion:
A moderate physical activity program that is performed over the first, second, and third trimester of pregnancy improves the maternal perception of health status.
