Aquatic Activities During Pregnancy Prevent Excessive Maternal Weight Gain and Preserve Birth Weight: A Randomized...

The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of a supervised and regular program of aquatic activities throughout gestation on maternal weight gain and birth weight.

A randomized clinical trial.

Instituto de Obstetricia, Ginecología y Fertilidad Ghisoni (Buenos Aires, Argentina).

One hundred eleven pregnant women were analyzed (31.6 ± 3.8 years). All women had uncomplicated and singleton pregnancies; 49 were allocated to the exercise group (EG) and 62 to the control group (CG).

The intervention program consisted of 3 weekly sessions of aerobic and resistance aquatic activities from weeks 10 to 12 until weeks 38 to 39 of gestation.

Maternal weight gain, birth weight, and other maternal and fetal outcomes were obtained by hospital records.

Student unpaired t test and χ² test were used; P values ≤.05 indicated statistical significance. Cohen's d was used to determinate the effect size.

There was a higher percentage of women with excessive maternal weight gain in the CG (45.2%; n = 28) than in the EG (24.5%; n = 12; odds ratio = 0.39; 95% confidence interval: 0.17-0.89; P = .02). Birth weight and other pregnancy outcomes showed no differences between groups.

Three weekly sessions of water activities throughout pregnancy prevents excessive maternal weight gain and preserves birth weight.

The clinicaltrial.gov identifier: NCT 02602106.