Perceived Barriers to Exercise in the First Trimester of Pregnancy

Abstract

Regular physical activity has been shown to improve pregnancy outcomes. We sought to identify barriers to exercise during the first trimester of pregnancy. Five hundred forty-nine pregnant women in their first trimester rated barriers to exercise on a scale of 1 (not a barrier) to 5 (a huge barrier) and recorded physical activity (minutes/week). Women were placed into one of three classifications, nonexercisers (zero exercise), infrequent exercisers (<150 minutes/week), or exercisers (≥150 minutes/week). The greatest barriers (mean) were nausea/fatigue (3.0) and lack of time (2.6). Exercisers reported significantly lower barrier levels. Nausea/fatigue was a greater barrier for nonexercisers compared to exercisers (3.6 vs 2.8, p < .001). Focusing education and interventions on these barriers may help pregnant women achieve healthy exercise levels.

What Accounts for Physical Activity during Pregnancy? A Study on the Sociodemographic Predictors of Self-Reported and Objectively Assessed Physical Activity during the 1st and 2nd Trimesters of Pregnancy

“…which are not frequently included in questionnaires and that are therefore difficult to quantify with self-reported strategies. The proportion of women reporting PA levels that meet international guidelines in our study are remarkably greater than has been reported in much of the literature [29][30][31]35,37,38], with the exception of the study by Sytsma and colleagues [39]. However, it should be acknowledged that studies reporting relatively lower PA typically remove periods of time below 10 minutes from their PA calculation.…”

“…While many studies have also found that women with at least one previous child are more inactive during pregnancy [7,32,[40][41][42]44,45], Watson et al [46] found the opposite pattern of results; still others have found no statistically significant association between parity and PA during pregnancy [31,47]. The relationship between race and exercise is not consistent, with some studies finding that exercisers are more likely to be white [35,39,41], while others found similar exercise rates among black and white women [43,44]. Some others indicated that there is no relation between ethnic origin and PA [31,32,48].…”

“…In doing so, those at risk of inactivity could be identified and encouraged to develop a more active lifestyle during pregnancy. Studies which have thus far tried to identify determinants of PA among pregnant women have largely found positive associations between high educational attainment and household income and PA levels [8,31,35,[39][40][41][42][43]. While many studies have also found that women with at least one previous child are more inactive during pregnancy [7,32,[40][41][42]44,45], Watson et al [46] found the opposite pattern of results; still others have found no statistically significant association between parity and PA during pregnancy [31,47].…”

Physical activity and exercise during pregnancy in Africa: a review of the literature

“…Various factors have been shown to influence PA participation among pregnant women, including low maternal education [ 55 – 57 ], unemployment [ 58 , 59 ], pregnancy symptoms/discomforts [ 3 , 55 , 60 – 62 ], multiparity [ 63 ], lack of strength or fatigue [ 3 ], lack of time [ 3 , 55 , 60 ], lack of motivation [ 56 , 64 , 65 ], and safety concerns or fear [ 62 , 66 ]. Some studies have reported cultural and religious beliefs [ 66 ], lack of social support [ 61 , 67 ] and other responsibilities [ 61 , 68 ].…”

Developing a Physical Activity Intervention Strategy for Pregnant Women in Buffalo City Municipality, South Africa: A Study Protocol

“…Worryingly, less than 50% of women adhere to the prenatal PA guidelines set by various bodies to promote a healthy pregnancy [58]. The intrapersonal factors limiting the participation of pregnant women in PA include low levels of maternal awareness and education on the benefits of PA during pregnancy [2,57], pregnancy symptoms and discomfort [2,57,59,60], multiparity [61], lack of strength or fatigue [57,59,62,63], lack of time [57,59,62,64], lack of motivation [57,62,63,65], lack of self-confidence [57,66] and lack of safety or fear [57,67,68]. Interpersonal or social factors affecting PA during pregnancy are cultural and religious beliefs [69,70], lack of social support [71,72], having child care responsibilities [59,71,73] and work and family responsibilities [49,59,62,63].…”