Effectiveness of Adherence to Antenatal Exercise on Labor Duration in Normal Vaginal Delivery

Prolonged labor during normal delivery is a common concern influenced by maternal factors such as age, fitness level, and pregnancy-related weight gain. Adherence to antenatal exercise programs, which often include breathing exercises, stretching, and pelvic floor components, is evidently related to enhanced labor outcomes. This study investigates the effectiveness of adherence to antenatal exercises in relation to the duration of labor in women planning to undergo normal delivery.

The present study included 44 pregnant women in the third trimester (aged 20-30 years) planning normal vaginal delivery. Participants were randomly divided by sealed envelope method into Group A (control, n = 22) receiving conventional exercises and Group B (experimental, n = 22) receiving a structured antenatal exercise program including progressive yoga poses over 12 weeks. Outcome measures included the duration of labor, Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), and Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) Scale.

Following the 12-week intervention, women in the experimental group (Group B) demonstrated significantly shorter total labor duration (6.4 ± 1.2 hours) compared to the control group (Group A) (7.8 ± 1.4 hours, t = 3.56, p < 0.05). Group B also demonstrated significantly lower pain intensity on the NPRS (2.93 ± 0.73) compared to Group A (5.79 ± 1.36). Similarly, Group B reported significantly lower perceived exertion on the Borg RPE (7.5 ± 1.45) compared to Group A (12.5 ± 1.02). Within-group analysis confirmed that both groups showed significant improvement from pre- to post-intervention on the NPRS and Borg RPE Scale (labor duration, being a single delivery-time outcome, was not assessed pre-intervention), and the magnitude of improvement was markedly greater in Group B across all outcome measures. Mean session adherence was comparable between groups (91.3% in Group B vs. 88.6% in Group A, p = 0.32), indicating that the observed between-group differences were not attributable to differential compliance.

The study suggests that among pregnant women planning to undergo normal delivery, structured antenatal exercises may be more effective than traditional exercises in decreasing duration of labor, pain, and physical exertion; given the modest sample size, these findings should be interpreted with caution and confirmed in larger trials.