Introduction: Moderate physical activity should be a part of every day life during pregnancy of course if the woman does not have any health problems or any complications relating to pregnancy. The aim of the research was to determine how and in which way pregnant women are physical active and if there is any correlation between physical activities during pregnancyregardless of their socio-demographic characteristics. Methods: The nonexperimental empirical method was used. Semistructured questionnaire was applied on convenience sample of pregnant women (n = 46) who had been attending prenatal education courses in December 2015 and January 2016. The average age of the respondents was 29 years (s = 4.0). The majority of them (39.9%) had completed an upper secondary education; lived in rural areas (63%); were in 29th week of gestation (s = 6) and were primiparous (84.8%). In addition to the basic descriptive statistics Pearson correlation coefficient was used. Results: The results suggest that pregnant women are trying to be physical active during pregnancy, because they are aware of its positive effects on pregnancy, childbirth and know the reasons when physical activity is contraindicated. The majority of them are engaged inphysical activity four times per week; walking is the most common type (54.5%); only 19.6% of pregnant women attend organized physical exercises for pregnant women. Multiparous women compared with primiparous women are more physically active (p = 0.543). Age, levelof education and place of residence are not statistically significantly associated with the implementation of physical activity in everyday life (p>0.05). Discussion and conclusions: One of the most important factors that contribute to a healthy pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum period is physical activity during pregnancy. The results suggest that pregnant women are well aware of these effects, but the implementation of physical activity 166is not always proportional to this. Organized physical exercises, where established, are insufficient for adequate preparation for childbirth.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.