Physical activity throughout pregnancy: guideline critical appraisal and implementation tool

The 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy provides evidencebased recommendations to promote maternal, fetal, and neonatal health. We aimed to 1) critically appraise the 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy; and 2) develop a guideline summary for clinicians to facilitate the uptake of recommendations into practice.

We used the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) instrument to critically appraise the quality and reporting of this guideline. Four reviewers independently scored between 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) for 23 items organized into six quality domains.

AGREE II quality domain scores ranged from 47%-64% and the overall quality of the guideline was rated as 83% (high quality).

Based on its methodological quality, we recommend the use of this guideline. Our guideline summary includes six recommendations and other safety precautions that are relevant for clinicians in Canada.