Effectiveness and safety of moderate-intensity aerobic water exercise during pregnancy for reducing use of epidural analgesia during labor: protocol for a randomized clinical trial

Abstract

BackgroundEpidural analgesia during labor can provide effective pain relief, but can also lead to adverse effects. The practice of moderate exercise during pregnancy is associated with an increased level of endorphins in the blood, and this could also provide pain relief during labor. Aerobic water exercises, rather than other forms of exercise, do not negatively impact articulations, reduce edema, blood pressure, and back pain, and increase diuresis. We propose a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of a moderate water exercise program during pregnancy on the need for epidural analgesia during labor.MethodsA multi-center, parallel, randomized, evaluator blinded, controlled trial in a primary care setting. We will randomised 320 pregnant women (14 to 20 weeks gestation) who have low risk of complications to a moderate water exercise program or usual care.DiscussionThe findings of this research will contribute toward understanding of the effects of a physical exercise program on pain and the need for analgesia during labor.Trial registrationISRCTN Registry identifier:14097513 register on 04 September 2017. Retrospectively registered.

Attitude of primiparous women towards their preference for delivery method: a qualitative content analysis

“…It seems using different approaches to reduce pain during delivery such as warm shower, rhythmic breathing and educating about labor could decrease the fear of vaginal delivery, which demands more studies. Participating in care courses before delivery and educational classes as well as doing regular exercise are other suggested methods [44].…”

The investigation of effects of static immersion and calming in water on pregnant women's stress participating in preparation classes for childbirth

“…The results of this study show that static immersion and relaxation in water lead to stress reduction in pregnant women according to this fact Navas et al ., in a study entitled “the effect of aerobics in water in pregnancy on the use of painless method in childbirth,” in 2018, concluded that the use of water exercises in pregnancy reduced the pain during childbirth and the mother's mental problems, and as a result, there was less need to use analgesic methods in childbirth. [22] The study of Sayed Ahmadinejad et al . in 2014, which assessed the impact of teaching relaxation on stress reduction in pregnancy showed that learning programs based on relaxation in water skills can lead to decline the pregnancy anxiety and stress.…”

Effectiveness of Moderate-Intensity Aerobic Water Exercise during Pregnancy on Quality of Life and Postpartum Depression: A Multi-Center, Randomized Controlled Trial

“…This was a multi-center, parallel, randomized, evaluator-blinded, controlled clinical trial of pregnant women that was conducted from November 2014 to March 2017. A detailed description of the study protocol was published previously [ 50 ].…”

“…All statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 23 (SPSS/IBM, Chicago, IL, USA) according to a predefined analysis plan [ 50 ]. The significance of differences in baseline characteristics of the control and intervention groups were determined.…”