Effect of maternal exercises on biophysical fetal and maternal parameters: a transversal study

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the acute effects of maternal and fetal hemodynamic responses in pregnant women submitted to fetal Doppler and an aerobic physical exercise test according to the degree of effort during the activity and the impact on the well-being.Methods Transversal study with low risk pregnant women, obtained by convenience sample with gestational age between 26 to 34 weeks. The participants carry out a progressive exercise test.Results After the exercise session, reduced resistance (p=0.02) and pulsatility indices (p=0.01) were identified in the umbilical artery; however, other Doppler parameters analyzed, in addition to cardiotocography and fetal biophysical profile did not achieve significant change. Maternal parameters obtained linear growth with activity, but it was not possible to establish a standard with the Borg scale, and oxygen saturation remained stable.Conclusion A short submaximal exercise had little effect on placental blood flow after exercise in pregnancies without complications, corroborating that healthy fetus maintains homeostasis even in situations that alter maternal hemodynamics.

Acute fetal response to high-intensity interval training in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy

“…In contrast to the observed findings, hypoxia would result in vasoconstriction and increased Doppler indices. Similar reassuring decreases in Doppler indices were observed by Syzmanski et al (Szymanski and Satin, 2012a) and Santos et al (Santos et al, 2016) in response to "vigorous" and "submaximal" maternal aerobic exercise.…”

Assessment of physical fitness during pregnancy: validity and reliability of fitness tests, and relationship with maternal and neonatal health – a systematic review

“…Regarding aim 1, 99 tests (including 75 different protocols) were used to assess CRF,8 12 13 18 27–108 28 (including 16 different protocols) to assess muscular fitness,8 12 13 61 86 109–122 14 (including 13 different protocols) to assess flexibility,12 13 110 114 123–127 45 tests (including 40 different protocols) to assess balance,110 116 128–167 2 tests using the same protocol to assess speed168 169 and 3 tests using the same protocol were multidimensional 168–170. No results were found for other PF components such as agility or coordination.…”

Assessing physical fitness during pregnancy: validity and reliability of fitness tests, and relationship with maternal and neonatal health-related outcomes. A systematic review

“…For instance, there were 56 different protocols using cycle-ergometer, distributed as follows: only one article used the Arstila test [29]; one used the Bruce Protocol at 75% HR max [46]; one applied the Modified Bruce ramp protocol at anaerobic threshold [47]; two employed the Modified Balke protocol at 70% HR max [48,49]; one used YMCA protocol [50]; and the remaining articles (n=55) used ad-hoc tests (i.e. specifically designed for the purpose of the investigation); 11 of which [28,49,[51][52][53][54][55][56][57] There were 25 treadmill tests that used 14 different protocols, distributed as follows: the Modified Balke protocol was used in 10 articles [8,42,63,[100][101][102][103][104][105][106]; the Modified Bruce protocol in 2 articles [13,107]; and the traditional Balke protocol -twice in the same article- [108]; the traditional Bruce protocol [109], the Cornell protocol [40], the SWET protocol and the Ebbelling single-stage protocol [18] were each used in 1 article. There were other 7 ad hoc tests of which 2 were steady-state [54,110], and 5 were incremental tests [58,[111][112][113][114].…”