This file was dowloaded from the institutional repository Brage NIH -brage.bibsys.no/nih Haakstad, L. A. H., Torset, B. S., Bø, K. (2015). What is the effect of regular group exercise on maternal psychological outcomes and common pregnancy complaints? An assessor blinded RCT. Midwifery, 32,[81][82][83][84][85][86] Dette er siste tekst-versjon av artikkelen, og den kan inneholde små forskjeller fra forlagets pdf-versjon. Intervention: The exercise intervention followed ACOG guidelines and included a 60 min general fitness class, with 40 min of endurance training/aerobic and 20 min of strength training and stretching/relaxation, performed at least twice per week for a minimum of 12 weeks. Measurements:Outcome measures were assessed through standardized interviews pre-and postintervention (gestation week 36.6, ± 0.9), and included psychological variables related to quality of life, well-being, body image and pregnancy depression, as well as assessment of 13 commonly reported pregnancy complaints.Findings: Post-intervention, using intention to treat (ITT) analysis, women randomized to exercise rated their health significantly better compared to women in the control group (p=0.02) and reported less fatigue related to everyday activities (p=0.04). Women with complete exercise adherence (≥24 sessions) had significantly better scores on measurements of feelings related to sadness, hopelessness and anxiety (p<0.01), compared to the control group. Contradictory, the control group reported higher life enjoyment (p<0.01). There were no significant group differences in body-image or pregnancy depression. With respect to analyzing pregnancy complaints according to ITT, no differences between the groups were found. A comparison of the women who attended ≥19 (80%, n=21) or ≥24 (100%, n=14) exercise sessions with the controlparticipants, showed that fewer women in the exercise group reported nausea/vomiting and numbness/poor circulation in legs.Key conclusion and implication for practise: Participation in regular group exercise during pregnancy contributed to improvements in some variables related to maternal well-being and quality of life. Women with high exercise adherence had significantly better results on several health variables reaping the highest benefits. A qualitative study exploring the barriers of women in achieving recommended amount of activity may be necessary to understand this population and developing better clinical practice educational tools.

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