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Exercise FITT-V during pregnancy: 1-month infant neuromotor outcomes
Kara Kern1, Alex Claiborne1, Filip Jevtovic1
1Department of Kinesiology, East Carolina University (ECU), Greenville, NC, USA; Human Performance Laboratory, ECU, Greenville, NC, USA.
Background:
Despite decades of research documenting health benefits from exercise during pregnancy, it remains unknown how prenatal exercise affects infant neuromotor skill development.
Objectives:
To examine the effects of exercise modes, and maternal exercise metrics; frequency, intensity, time, type, and volume (FITT-V) during pregnancy on infant gross motor skills. We hypothesized that 1 month old infants of mothers who exercised during pregnancy would exhibit more developed gross motor skills compared to infants of mothers who did not exercise during pregnancy. Further, we hypothesized that infant gross motor skills will be directly associated with maternal exercise frequency, volume, and duration.
Materials & Methods:
Healthy pregnant women between 18 and 40 years were randomized to one of four groups: aerobic, resistance, combination exercise, or no exercise. Infant neuromotor skills (n = 162) were measured at 1 month of age using the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales, 2nd Edition (PDMS-2).
Results:
Locomotion subtest percentile for infants born to exercising mothers trended higher than infants of controls (p = .09), while exercise group allocation did not affect outcomes. Infants born to women who averaged > 4 METs (n = 35) exercise intensity during each session showed a higher overall Gross Motor Quotient (GMQ) percentile score (p = .02).
Conclusion:
While we found no relationship for maternal exercise frequency, volume or duration during pregnancy, exercise intensity shows an intensity-dependent association with increased locomotor skills in 1 month old infants.
