Pregnant Women With Physical Activity
Condition: Pregnancy
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Physical activity, defined as any movement of the body produced by the contraction of
      skeletal muscles in all phases of life, maintains and improves cardiorespiratory capacity,
      reduces the risk of obesity and associated comorbidities. The study will analyze the effect
      of prenatal exercise on circulatory functional and structural parameters and gestational
      weight gain in pregnant women who exercised regularly, compared to pregnant women who did not
      exercise regularly.
    

Detailed description: 
      Physical activity, defined as any movement of the body produced by the contraction of
      skeletal muscles in all phases of life, maintains and improves cardiorespiratory capacity,
      reduces the risk of obesity and associated comorbidities. The incidence of a sedentary
      lifestyle during pregnancy ranges from 64.5 to 91.5% and tends to increase in the third
      trimester. This has a negative impact on the quality of life and contributes to the obesity
      epidemic in pregnant women. Physical inactivity and excessive weight gain during pregnancy
      increase the risk of gestational diabetes and pregnancy-induced hypertension. In pregnancy,
      the circulatory system adapts to adequately supply the needs of the mother and fetus.
      Physical activity is considered a preventive measure for the diseases of the cardiovascular
      system in pregnancy.

      The study will analyze the effect of prenatal exercise on circulatory functional and
      structural parameters and gestational weight gain in pregnant women who exercised regularly,
      compared to pregnant women who did not exercise regularly.

      In the first phase of the study, an experimental and control group will be formed. The
      prenatal exercise program will be conducted with the experimental group for 8 weeks. The
      control group will not exercise, will have standard prenatal care, and attend classes of
      theoretical classes on childbirth. Respondents in both groups will fill out a questionnaire
      from which the data will be obtained: age, height, bodyweight before pregnancy. Data on the
      week of pregnancy will be obtained from the medical documentation.

      The prenatal exercise program was made according to the recommendations of the American
      College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG recommendations) and the guidelines of the
      Croatian Association of Physiotherapists for Women's Health.

      The exercise program is presented with: muscle stretching exercises and muscle strength
      exercises, exercises to strengthen the abdominal wall muscles, exercises to strengthen the
      thigh muscles - quadriceps femoris (lat. musculus quadriceps femoris), to strengthen gluteal
      muscles, exercises to increase pelvic mobility, exercise to improve circulation, as well as
      pelvic floor muscle training with breathing and relaxation techniques.

      Bodyweight will be measured at the beginning of the test, at the end of the exercise program,
      and at the end of the pregnancy.

      Blood pressure data will be obtained by measuring blood pressure with a mercury manometer
      with a mercury column, in both groups: at the beginning of the study and the end of the
      study.

      The shape of capillary loops and the number of capillary loops of the nail skin fold will be
      analyzed with nailfold capillaroscopy in both groups of subjects: at the beginning of the
      study and after 8 weeks.

      In the second phase of the work, the collected data will be processed by methods of
      descriptive and parametric statistics.

      The obtained results will be presented at the third phase of the work.
    

Intervention name(s): Exercise group
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The exercise program comprises static and dynamic breathing exercises, muscle stretching exercises and muscle strength exercises, exercises to strengthen the abdominal wall muscles, exercises to strengthen the thigh muscles - quadriceps femoris (lat. musculus quadriceps femoris), to strengthen gluteal muscles, exercises to increase pelvic mobility, exercise to improve circulation, as well as pelvic floor muscle training with relaxation techniques.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Basic Science
Keywords: Pregnancy; Physical exercise; Cardiovascular system; Gestational weight gain