The impact of physical activity during pregnancy on maternal weight and obstetric outcomes

The goal of the paper was to compare weight gain in pregnant women in relation to the week of gestation at birth, the delivery method, and the occurrence of macrosomia and low birth weights for patients with different durations of physical activity during pregnancy.

The full course of study was completed by 57 pregnant women enrolled in an 18-week physical activity programme during their second and third trimesters. The actual duration of their physical activity was monitored with the ActiGraph GT3X monitor. The patients were divided into two groups: L_MPA (n = 28) - pregnant women with daily physical activity of over 21.38 minutes and S_MPA (n = 29) - pregnant women who exercised less than 21.38 minutes a day. The study compared obstetric results in both groups.

Significantly more patients in the S_MPA group exhibited excess weight gain as compared with the L_MPA group (p = 0.01). There was found to be no significant impact from the duration of physical activity on the occurrence of macrosomia or low birth weight, the gestation age at birth or the delivery method. However, there were two times fewer cases of macrosomia in the L_MPA group.

The results demonstrate that physical activity during pregnancy for at least 21 minutes per day in the second half of the pregnancy reduces the risk of excess weight gain during pregnancy.