Water Exercise and Quality of Life in Pregnancy: A Randomised Clinical Trial

Abstract

Background: Physical exercise helps to maintain a healthy lifestyle and its practice is recommended for women during pregnancy as a means of limiting the negative effects on the body that may take place and to optimise well-being, mood and sleep patterns, as well as encouraging daily physical activity, enhancing the ability to work and preventing pregnancy-related complications. Aim: To analyse the quality of life in pregnancy for women who complete a programme of moderate physical activity in water, following a designed method that the woman can perform physical exercise safely during pregnancy called the SWEP (study of water exercise during pregnancy) method. Materials and methods: A randomised clinical trial was performed. One hundred and twenty-nine pregnant women were randomly assigned either to an exercise class following the SWEP method (EG, n = 65) or to a control group (CG, n = 64). The trial began in week 20 of pregnancy (May 2016) and ended in week 37 (October 2016). Heath-related quality of life (HRQoL) was evaluated with the SF36v2 health questionnaire at weeks 12 and 35 of pregnancy. Results: The HRQoL score decreased significantly between weeks 12 and 35 of gestation, except for the mental health component, which in the CG fell by −3.28 points and in the EG increased slightly (p > 0.05). Among the CG, the score for the mental health component at week 35 was ≤42, indicating a positive screening risk of depression (39.20 ± 4.16). Conclusions: Physical activity programmes in water, such as SWEP, enhance the HRQoL of pregnant women.

Quality of Life During Pregnancy from 2011 to 2021: Systematic Review

“…The following factors were strongly associated with a better quality of life: Exercise, 70 moderate physical activity in water, 71 high exercise adherence, 70 adopting low-to-moderate intensity resistance training, 72 Higher Energy Expenditures, 73 clinical pilates exercises, 74 having a body mass index BMI ≥ 25, 75 better sleep quality, 76 increase of sexual satisfaction, 45 receiving a lifestyle advice, 22 social support 16 , 61 and receiving the solution-focused counselling in terms of violence. 77 …”

“…The following factors were strongly associated with a better quality of life: Exercise, 70 moderate physical activity in water, 71 high exercise adherence, 70 adopting low-to-moderate intensity resistance training, 72 Higher Energy Expenditures, 73 clinical pilates exercises, 74 having a body mass index BMI ≥ 25, 75 better sleep quality, 76 increase of sexual satisfaction, 45 receiving a lifestyle advice, 22 social support 16,61 and receiving the solution-focused counselling in terms of violence. 77 In contrast, planned pregnancies and history of depression were not associated with low mental or physical QoL, 78 and offering an exercise program during pregnancy does not seem to influence healthy pregnant women's psychological wellbeing and self-perceived general health.…”

Physical activity during pregnancy: a systematic review for the assessment of current evidence with future recommendations

“…Studies included in the analyses involved various number of participants. Those numbers varied between minimum of 20 [ 27 ] and maximum of 1023 pregnant women [ 38 ]. All studies had intervention and control group.…”

“…Table 5 categorizes main findings with respect to exercise modality and their expected positive results on pregnant-women health and well-being. The favourable health outcomes of performing moderate aerobic exercise were most extensively examined [ 35 , 45 ], followed by strengthening see e.g., [ 42 ], or a hybrid form using both [ 38 , 44 ]. For aerobic exercise, treadmill, walking, and other aerobic-exercise programs are advised (see Table 5 ).…”

“…Both interventions showed positive results in pain reduction caused by or perceived as a result of pregnancy. Rodríguez-Blanque et al [ 38 ] reported that pregnant women performed a moderate PA consisting of a warm-up; aerobic exercise, strengthening, and stretching with relaxation to limit the negative effects on the body and to optimise well-being, mood and sleep patterns. Finally, positive results were also seen by combing individual diet and PA [ 39 ].…”