Association between physical activity education and prescription during prenatal care and maternal and fetal health outcomes: a quasi-experimental study

Abstract

Background Physical activity (PA) during pregnancy is associated with healthy gestational weight gain (GWG) and a reduced risk of developing gestational diabetes (GD), gestational hypertension (GHT) and fetal macrosomia. However, in Canada, less than 20% of pregnant women meet PA recommendations. This study assessed associations between an intervention including PA education by prenatal nurses and a PA prescription delivered by physicians and fetal and maternal outcomes. Methods This is a quasi-experimental study. Two groups of women who received their prenatal care at the obstetrics clinic of a university hospital were created. In the first group, 394 pregnant women followed at the clinic received standard care. In the second group, 422 women followed at the clinic received standard care supplemented with education on the relevance of PA during pregnancy and a prescription for PA. Data for both study groups were obtained from the medical records of the mothers and their newborns. Logistic regressions were used to compare the odds of developing excessive GWG, GD, GHT, and fetal macrosomia between the two study groups. Results The addition of PA education and PA prescription to prenatal care was associated with 29% lower odds of developing excessive GWG (adjusted odds ratios (OR) 0.71, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.51–0.99), 73% lower odds of developing GHT (0.27, 0.14–0.53), 44% lower odds of fetal macrosomia (> 4 kg) (0.56, 0.34–0.93), and 40% lower odds of being large for gestational age (0.60, 0.36–0.99). The intervention was not associated with a difference in odds of developing GD (0.48, 0.12–1.94). Conclusions The inclusion of education and prescription of PA as part of routine prenatal care was associated with improvements in maternal and fetal health outcomes, including significantly lower odds of GWG, GHT and macrosomia.

Empowering Iraqi Female Students Toward Healthier Preconception Behaviors

“…The observed effects follow the realization of targeted interventions, which are the best strategy for enhancing health behavior among pre-pregnancy women (Pinar et al, 2020;Saidi et al, 2023). These findings point out, therefore, the possible outcome of interventions in academic institutions, mostly in female college students, and, as well, they are added to the available literature on preconception health promotion.…”

Physical activity promotion among pregnancy – the role of physician from the women’s perspective

“…In the analysis by Findley et al (45), women with a history of pregnancy reported that family members and partners advised them to stop exercising during pregnancy and offered them advice, leading them to a perceived a lack of ownership of their bodies. Studies have shown that well designed lifestyle counselling, provided as part of routine care, leads to improvements in the PA patterns in pregnant women (46)(47)(48), and should therefore be a mandatory part of all antenatal and obstetric consultations.…”