New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

Exercising during pregnancy reduces the risk of high birth weight newborns and of Caesarean delivery, study suggests

Date:
July 16, 2013
Source:
University of Granada
Summary:
Researchers found that moderate-intensity exercise three times a week during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy halves the risk of having a newborn baby with macrosomia (weighing over 4 kilos).
Share:
FULL STORY

Researchers have found that moderate-intensity exercise three times a week during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy halves the risk of having a newborn baby with macrosomia (weighing over 4 kilos).

Taking moderate-intensity exercise three times a week during the second and third trimester of pregnancy halves the risk of having a high birth weight newborn (babies with macrosomia, that is, weighing over 4 kilos) and, therefore, the risk of needing a caesarean delivery.

These findings come from research led by Rubén Barakat of the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Alejandro Lucía of the European University of Madrid, and Jonatan Ruiz of the University of Granada. Together with Sports Science graduates, they ran a series of programmed training sessions for a sample of 510 sedentary pregnant women. The results of their study have been published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

The researchers contacted a total of 780 Spanish pregnant women attending two primary health care centres in Leganés (Madrid). Finally, 510 gave their consent to participate in the study. They all recognized they were sedentary -- that is, that they exercised for less than 20 minutes on fewer than 3 days a week.

55 minutes exercise

The intervention group followed a training program that consisted of 55 minute sessions of aerobic, muscle strength and flexibility exercises on three days a week from weeks 10-12 to weeks 38-39 of pregnancy, while the control group received standard recommendations and care.

The results showed the training sessions did not reduce the appearance of gestational diabetes mellitus but did diminish the incidence of two major associated risks: macrosomia (down by 58%) and caesarean delivery (which fell by 34%).

These findings "reinforce the need to encourage more supervised exercise interventions during pregnancy to combat the negative effects of gestational diabetes mellitus," says Jonatan Ruiz, researcher in the University of Granada Department of Physical and Sports Education and corresponding author of the study.


Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Granada. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. R. Barakat, M. Pelaez, C. Lopez, A. Lucia, J. R. Ruiz. Exercise during pregnancy and gestational diabetes-related adverse effects: a randomised controlled trial. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2013; 47 (10): 630 DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2012-091788

Cite This Page:

University of Granada. "Exercising during pregnancy reduces the risk of high birth weight newborns and of Caesarean delivery, study suggests." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 16 July 2013. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130716075848.htm>.
University of Granada. (2013, July 16). Exercising during pregnancy reduces the risk of high birth weight newborns and of Caesarean delivery, study suggests. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 29, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130716075848.htm
University of Granada. "Exercising during pregnancy reduces the risk of high birth weight newborns and of Caesarean delivery, study suggests." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130716075848.htm (accessed March 29, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES