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Influence of exercise mode on maternal and fetal health outcomes (886.3)
Author(s) -
Moyer Carmen,
May Linda
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.886.3
Subject(s) - medicine , fetus , analysis of variance , repeated measures design , heart rate , gestation , stroke volume , pregnancy , aerobic exercise , circuit training , fetal heart rate , physiology , cardiology , physical therapy , blood pressure , biology , statistics , genetics , mathematics
Current research is exploring the health benefits of exercise in pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of aerobic and circuit training throughout pregnancy on maternal and fetal adaptations. We hypothesized that there would be 1) improvements in maternal resting HR and body composition; 2) differences in fetal HR, HR variability, and heart measures at 34 weeks; and 3) no differences in fetal anatomical heart measurements or birth measures between groups. Participants in one of three protocols completed three 45 minute sessions weekly from 13 weeks gestation to delivery. We measured maternal resting HR at each exercise session, maternal body composition monthly, and 34 week fetal heart measures. Statistical analyses included t‐tests and multiple ANOVAs. There is a significant difference in RHR between groups for OW/OB women, but no significant difference in body composition between exercising groups. There are differences in fetal HR, HR variability, and stroke volume between exercising and control groups, but no differences in fetal anatomical measures between groups. These data suggest that there is a similar fetal heart response between aerobic and circuit exercising groups that differed from the control group. Fetal cardiac autonomic benefits are observed when controlling for frequency, intensity, and time, regardless of the exercise protocol, compared to not exercising.