Influences of prior miscarriage and weight status on perinatal psychological well-being, exercise motivation and behavior

Abstract

Objectives women who have experienced miscarriage may be at increased risk for elevated depressive and anxiety symptoms in subsequent pregnancies. Exercise may be a useful strategy for coping with these symptoms. Little is known about how miscarriage influences prenatal exercise behavior. The study purpose was to examine the influences of miscarriage history and prepregnancy weight status on pregnant women’s psychological health, exercise motivation, and behavior using the Theory of Planned Behavior. Participants/Setting Pregnant women (N=203; 41 with prior miscarriage; 72 overweight/obese; BMI > 25.0) in the northeast United States. Design Women prospectively reported their depressive/anxiety symptoms and exercise motivation/behavior in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd trimesters via mailed surveys. Group differences in depressive/anxiety symptoms, exercise behavior, and its motivational determinants were examined using Chi Square analyses and Univariate and Multivariate Analyses of Covariance. Measurements and findings Women with a history of miscarriage had higher 1st and 2nd trimester depressive/anxiety symptoms and lower 1st trimester attitudes about exercise and 1st and 2nd trimester perceived behavior control than women without a history of miscarriage. Overweight/obese women had higher 1st and 2nd trimester pregnancy depressive/anxiety symptoms, engaged in less prepregnancy exercise, and had lower levels of exercise intention, attitude, and perceived behavior control throughout pregnancy than normal weight women. Key Conclusions Women with a history of miscarriage and overweight/obese women have poorer psychological health and lower motivation to exercise during pregnancy than women without a history of miscarriage and normal weight women. Implications for practitioners Interventions and healthcare provider communications aimed at promoting perinatal exercise behavior and psychological health should take into account pre-pregnancy weight status and pregnancy history to identify strategies to help women, particularly overweight/obese women with a history of miscarriage, to overcome exercise barriers.

Motherhood in the Time of Coronavirus: The Impact of the Pandemic Emergency on Expectant and Postpartum Women’s Psychological Well-Being

“…Moreover, postpartum women who experienced several complications during pregnancy were more likely to report postpartum PTSD and to report a negative experience of labor and delivery. This result is in line with other studies that have found an association between medical-obstetric dimensions of pregnancy and the subjective experience of childbirth as well as postpartum mental health (Devlin et al, 2016;Fenaroli et al, 2016Fenaroli et al, , 2019Furtado et al, 2018). Finally, women whose partners had not been present during delivery were more likely to experience both postpartum anxiety symptoms (state and trait) and PTSD thus underling the importance of (intra-partum and postpartum) partners' support in preventing postpartum psychological distress (Collins et al, 1993;Hodnett, 2002;Hodnett et al, 2011;Michels et al, 2013;Tani and Castagna, 2017).…”

“…as well as a variety of medical-obstetric variables prior to and during pregnancy (e.g., previous miscarriages, high risk pregnancy, etc.) have been found to impact on pregnant women's mental health (e.g., Devlin et al, 2016;Furtado et al, 2018). Again, a personal history of mental illness prior to pregnancy has been reported to increase the risk of developing a psychological disorder during pregnancy, thus underling the continuity of psychological disorders (Cox et al, 2014;Biaggi et al, 2016).…”

Longitudinal Changes in Physical Activity during Pregnancy: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Fetal Growth Studies

“…Where the Wald test was statistically significant (alpha < 0.05 level after Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate correction [31]), we conducted pairwise tests to find statistically different pairs. All analyses were adjusted for factors identified as being predictive of physical activity in prior literature: race/ethnicity, age, history of miscarriage, number of jobs (0, ≥1), marital status (married/living together, unmarried), education (<high school, high school, some college, bachelor's degree, advanced degree), parity, and BMI (13,(17)(18)(19)29,32,33).…”

Cognitive Factors of Weight Management During Pregnancy Among Chinese Women: A Study Applying Protective Motivation Theory

“…Furthermore, research has suggested that pregnant women with different pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) status and parity have different behaviors and views regarding weight management issues during pregnancy. 18,19 These different contexts of maternal characteristics might have effects on the cognition of pregnant women. In that, we will also consider the moderating effects of pre-pregnancy BMI status and parity.…”