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Updated: Feb 23, 2026
Author Spotlight: Enhancing the Offspring Health in Rats with Maternal Exercise During Pregnancy
Published on: April 5, 2024
Exercise Types During Pregnancy and the Influence on Neonatal Neurological Measures
Dingfeng Zhang1,2,3, Amy Gross McMillan4, Alex Claiborne2,5,6
1School of Physical Education and Sports Science, South China Normal University (SCNU), Guangzhou, GD, China.
Objective:
We aimed to explore the effect of supervised exercise training on neonatal neurological examination outcomes in neonates exposed to exercise in utero.
Methods:
Five hundred and sixty pregnant women were recruited from the hospital, and randomized (NCT03838146) to 1 of 4 intervention groups: aerobic, resistance, combination, and control group. Exercise was conducted 3 times per week from 16 weeks gestation until delivery. This is a secondary post hoc analysis of the study in which the primary outcome was offspring health outcomes; this analysis focuses on neonatal neurological examination at delivery. Statistical analyses were performed using both intention-to-treat and per-protocol (>75% adherence); 1-way analysis of variance, Pearson chi-square, and linear regression tests were used to analyze data with SPSS.
Results:
For the analysis, we had aerobic (n = 95), resistance (n = 63), or combination (n = 73) in comparison with a control group (n = 95). Groups were similar for maternal and neonatal descriptors. Per-protocol, the analyses showed a difference between combination and control groups in neonatal neurological examination (traction, P = .017) for all women. After controlling for type of exercise and weekly exercise intensity, gravida (P = .022) and parity after delivery (P = .009) were significant predictors for neonatal traction reflex (R2 = .047, P = .016).
Conclusions:
Exercise during pregnancy effectively improves the traction reflex in neonates.
