Physical exercise in pregnancy: benefits, risks and prescription

Ribeiro, Maria Margarida; Andrade, Alejandra; Nunes, Inês

doi:10.1515/jpm-2021-0315

Cited by 52 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 91 publications

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“…Physical activity has been an extremely popular subject in recent years. There is a growing awareness of the positive role and the benefits of physical activity [ 43 , 44 ]. Its main advantage is that it can be performed anywhere, in a sports club, in the comfort of one’s own home and in an organised or individual form, following the principle that any physical activity is better than no activity at all.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Prenatal Physical Activity Affect the Occurrence of Postnatal Anxiety and Depression? Longitudinal Study

Baran

Kalandyk-Osinko

Baran³

2022

IJERPH

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The aim of the foregoing study was to assess whether physical activity during pregnancy affects the occurrence of anxiety and depression during pregnancy, postpartum and 6 months following childbirth. This study tried to answer the following questions: How was the incidence of depression and anxiety different in the pre- and postpartum periods? What intensity level of physical activity protects against the symptoms of anxiety and depression? Does the time spent engaged in sedentary activities and MVPA affect the occurrence of depression and anxiety before and after childbirth? The study group under analysis consisted of 187 women aged 19–41 years. The research was conducted between April 2016 and November 2020. The study was divided into four stages: T0—qualification to participate in the study; T1—medical history acquisition, consisting of a short questionnaire and two long questionnaires (the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7)), as well as an assessment of 7-day physical activity using Actigraph accelerometers during the pregnancy; T2—the completion of the EPDS and GAD-7 questionnaires after the birth; T3—the completion of the EPDS and GAD-7 questionnaire 6 months after giving birth. The obtained results were statistically processed in the Statistica 13.3 software package. A significance level of p < 0.05 was assumed. The highest percentage of depression occurred immediately after the delivery, followed by 6 months after delivery, and the smallest number of women suffered from depression before the birth (p < 0.001). The analysis of correlations of physical activity with anxiety symptoms did not show significant correlations. However, the situation is different in the case of depression symptoms. Women taking fewer steps before delivery showed a greater tendency to develop depressive symptoms before, immediately after and 6 months after the delivery (p < 0.001). Women who were less active (took fewer steps per day, spent less time in moderate-to-vigorous physical (MVPA) activities or spent more time being sedentary) showed symptoms of depression on the EPDS scale. It appeared that those with severe anxiety symptoms had the highest sedentary time scores before the delivery (p = 0.020). Reduced physical activity promotes the onset of postnatal depression, while being active reduces this risk. Interestingly, even light physical activity “protects” against the occurrence of depression and is better than sedentary activities. Such clear conclusions cannot be drawn in relation to anxiety symptoms. Sedentary behaviour may promote anxiety symptoms immediately after childbirth, but this study should be continued in order to confirm it during other time periods.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Prenatal Physical Activity Affect the Occurrence of Postnatal Anxiety and Depression? Longitudinal Study

Baran

Kalandyk-Osinko

Baran³

2022

IJERPH

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“…Due to the similarity of symptoms, it is possible to speculate that the reduction in prenatal depression symptoms observed after exercise interventions reported in recent systematic reviews [ 14 , 32 ] could be comparable and transferable to prenatal anxiety outcomes. This idea is demonstrated in other systematic reviews, showing better results in the intervention than in the control groups [ 33 , 34 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 65%

Prenatal Anxiety and Exercise. Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Sánchez-Polán

Silva

Álvarez

et al. 2021

JCM

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The prevalence of prenatal anxiety has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Anxiety is associated with other cardiovascular, physiological, and mental illnesses, resulting in adverse health effects for the mother and foetus. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of physical activity (PA) during pregnancy on the prevalence of prenatal anxiety or symptoms of anxiety. A systematic review and two meta-analyses were performed (Registration No. CRD42021275333). Peer-reviewed articles reporting the effect of a PA intervention on anxiety during pregnancy were included. The first meta-analysis (MA) included 10 studies reporting final scores of prenatal anxiety. A negative association between moderate PA during pregnancy and prenatal anxiety was found in this analysis (z = −2.62, p < 0.01; ES = −0.46, 95% CI = −0.80, −12, I2 = 84%, Pheterogeneity = 0.001). The second MA included eight studies in which measures both before and after a PA intervention were reported. The findings of this analysis revealed a positive association between exercise practice during pregnancy and a decrease in prenatal anxiety scores (z = −3.39, p < 0.001; ES = −0.48, 95% CI = −0.76, −0.20, I2 = 71%, Pheterogeneity = 0.001). Supervised PA during pregnancy could prevent and reduce prenatal anxiety and anxiety symptoms.

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“…Efficient preventive tools that collaborate to improve the wellbeing of the pregnant woman and her offspring in a non-invasive way are urgently needed. Physical exercise throughout pregnancy does not alter maternal and fetal parameters and even generates improvements in many pre-, peri-, and postnatal pregnancy outcomes, which have been scientifically proven over the last 30 years [ 41 , 42 ].…”

Section: Physical Exercise As a Preventive Factormentioning

confidence: 99%