Fetal Cardiovascular Response to Maternal Exercise During Third Trimester

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of this study was to examine the behavior of the fetal heart rate in response to different intensities of acute maternal exercise in training and non-training pregnant women

Detailed Description
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Fetal heart rate is considered an important index of fetal well-being, especially during the third trimester of pregnancy (Rodney JR, Huntley BJ, Rodney WM, 2012). An increase in the FHR of 5-25 beats per min (bpm) in response to maternal exercise has been established as a normal reaction(Riemann,Kanstrup Hansen, 2000)however the normal FHR response to maternal exercise has remained unclear for several reasons Most of the studies are focused on obtain data in order to examine the fetal heart rate response to maternal exercise using cardiotocography measurements prior to and following maternal exercise

Official Title
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Effect of a Specific Exercise Program During Whole Pregnancy on Fetal Heart Rate Response to Maternal Effort in Third Trimester. A Randomised Controlled Trial

Conditions
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Pregnancy

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Exercise group


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Being healthy and able to exercise following American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) guidelines Being able to communicate in spanish Giving birth at Hospital Universitario de Fuenlabrada Exclusion Criteria: Multiparity Obstetrician complications Being interested in the study after 18 weeks Not being regular in physical exercise program Younger than 18 years old

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 45 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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Female

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| No Intervention: Control<br>Sedentary pregnant women | |
| Experimental: Exercise group<br> | Behavioral: Exercise group<br>* The physical conditioning program included a total of three 55-60 minute sessions per week. Pregnant women started in 9-12 weeks and finished in 38-40 weeks, therefore, an average of 85 training sessions were planned for each participant. All subjects wore a heart rate (HR) monitor (Polar FT7, Finland) during the training sessions to ensure that the exercise intensity was light to moderate. Each session included a 25-minutes of aerobic exercise, 10-minutes of strength exercise and balance exercise as well, and 10-minutes of pelvic floor muscles training.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fetal heart rate | Fetal heart rate was measured before and after maternal walking exercise at 40 and 60% MaxHR | Up to 34 weeks | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fetal outcomes | Birth weight | After labor | 
| Maternal outcomes | Type of delivery | During labor | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Fetal heart rate, pregnancy, fetus, cardiovascular system